Secrets, Truth, Trust and Finally Love
by mandymld
Summary: Georgie spends a yr in Italy; falls in love w/Giovanni. She returns home, pregnant to finish school. 4 Yrs later, John Z comes to PC for a business deal with Luke Spencer whose daughter Lulu is very unhappily engaged to him. What could possibly go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Trouble is part of your life, and if you don't share it, you don't give the person who loves you enough chance to love you enough. ~Dinah Shore 

March 2006

John looked out the window watching as she played in the water, clearly enjoying her free time at Lake Cumo. When she backed up to avoid the waves created by a speedboat further out into the lake, he wondered if things were different, if he wasn't who he was, would they have a good life?

When he heard the phone ringing, he looked back outside, taking one more last look at the beautiful and loving young woman who had no idea what his life was really like then reluctantly answered the phone, knowing it would end their idle and that later on, no matter what the caller said, that it would end his dreams.

Just holding the phone to his ear, he didn't have to say a word as the voice on the other end gave him the news, then asked what he was going to do now? Swallowing the hard lump in his throat, he took one last look around, then said "What do you think I am going to do? Oh course I will be there, just don't expect me to be happy about it."

Hanging up the small black phone, he looked around just as the woman he had been admiring returned from the beach. Watching her use the hose outside to wash the sand off her feet, he waited until she had joined him then abruptly said "We have to return to Verona. Now."

A bit surprised at the tone, she said "That's fine. I know that you can't afford to be gone from work that long. I was now sure that I would be able to."

As they closed up the little ramshackle house, she looked back wistfully, getting the distinct feeling that something had changed, she was soon in the small Mini she had bought the minute she arrived in Italy, driving south towards her school and her boyfriend's job at the casino.

With a sigh when she saw him closing down, she began to feel guilty that he had taken the time to go with her when clearly he couldn't afford to be missing work. When they arrived in town, she watched as he took out his worn knapsack, then gave her a quick kiss, almost squeezing her hand too tightly before just leaving, not looking back as he entered the the building where he worked.

At home, in her brightly painted apartment, Georgie called home and talked to her family, trying to hide from the feelings of dread that were beginning to creep over her. "So, are you seeing anyone?"

"No Maxie, I am here for school." she said then frowned, wondering why she was denying her relationship with Giovanni "Look, I have to get back to studying, I will call you again next week."

Standing, feeling restless, Georgie walked down to marketplace by the river and bought some tomatoes, then some beautiful flowers hoping that the bright yellow flowers would cheer her up as she returned to her second floor apartment.

As she finished making her salad, something was telling her to talk to Giovanni, to find out what was going on. Hesitating, but ultimately deciding to leave a voice mail, she quickly picked up her cell phone and hit speed dial two. Expecting him not to answer, she was a bit surprised when she heard his voice saying. "Georgie, is something wrong?"

"I was expecting to reach your voice mail." she stuttered at reaching him. "I uh, is everything okay?"

The dark haired man looked at the others in the room, then at the contact in front of him and said "I will be there in an hour, we obviously have to talk."

Hanging up the phone, he picked up the pen, then signed where the lawyers told him to sign then said "I want the contact ready by the time my jet is fueled. Now if you will excuse me."

Walking down the stairs, bypassing the elevator, the man quickly stopped and changed, then picked up the cheap gift that was all 'Giovanni' could afford, he walked out the door after ordering his man to make sure everything was ready. "I won't be returning to Verona after tonight."

"Very good sir." said the man as he arranged for the luggage to be sent to the airport and then paid the landlord to tell anyone that asked that no one by the name John Zachara had ever lived there like was standard practice on orders of the man's sister.

Across town, near the fake house that tourists believed belonged to Juliet, Georgie asked. "Why are we here, I thought you wanted to talk? I mean, I had already cooked dinner."

Feeling a sense that what he was doing was wrong, Giovanni looked at her then at the house in front of them then just told her the news. "I have to leave town. For good."

Her eyes widened even as her heart sank. "Are you in trouble?"

"Sort of." he lied, not wanting to tell her that in truth his life was a mess, that he had no future, none whatsoever. Reaching out, he tucked the short strand of hair that was already trying to curl behind her ear then said "I wish you all the best but this has to be the end of us."

Her heart shattered as Georgie watched the man she had met while sitting in an outdoor cafe four months ago, pressed a package into her hands, then gave her a soft kiss on her cheek then once again walked away without looking back.

Standing there for what felt like forever, Georgie heard the sounds of the town slowly growing silent as the tears ran down her face. No one stopped to ask what was wrong, no one noticed the girl in the growing darkness.

When the street lights kicked on, Georgie stood and walked back to her apartment, dumped the dinner in the trash, unable to eat before crawling into her bed, wishing that she understood what had just happened.

Two months later, she sat on the rim of her small bathtub and wished her Italian wasn't as good as it was. There was no way that the directions were right, there was no way she was pregnant. Deciding she was using the test wrong, she quickly went to the American hospital in Venice only for the kind nurse to confirm her diagnosis. "Oh my god, this can't be happening. I am about to go home, my father is going to kill me."

When the nurse looked at her in alarm, she gave a dry and bitter laugh before saying. "No, not literally, but I am going to be getting a Maxie style lecture."

Leaving, she drove home on autopilot, then seeing the sign for the Casino pulled on the handbrake and hurried inside to see the manager. "I was wondering if you could help me?"

The older man looked at the frantic young woman and was reminded of his daughter so he quickly listened to what she had to say, but then felt sick at not having any answers for her. "I am sorry, but we have never had a man by the name of Giovanni working at the Casino. Could it be a nickname?"

"No, no it's not a nickname." she replied as she dejectedly walked out. Knowing of at least one place where she was sure he had lied to her about, she went to the small building where Giovanni had lived. The landlord looked at the girl then was reminded by his wife of the large sum of money they had received and somberly told her that she was wrong. "No one by the name of Giovanni has ever lived here signora."

"No, I know he lived here, I visited him here." she insisted only to be shown the apartment which was now rented out to a young married couple. Stumbling away, she felt nauseous as she hurried home. Days later, after finishing her year at the exchange program, nineteen year old Georgie Jones flew home, still not believing that it had all been a lie.

Arriving in Port Charles, her heart numb, Georgie sat down with her family and gave them the news. There were tears(her sister and her own); there were threats against the man who had lied (Her parents and her relatives) and there was joy six and a half months later when Georgie gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.

At a loss as to what to name her son, Georgie went through every single baby book, including the one her nurse Elizabeth Morgan lent her and still had no idea, none what to name her sweet little baby boy. When Nurse Morgan handed her son to her, she carefully laid him down on her legs then said "What am I going to name you?"

As her uncle Tony came sneaking her a chocolate croissant, she looked at him then said "Do you mind if I use Antonio for my son?"

"No, I think that is lovely." he said then walked over and asked. "What about a middle name?"

"Antonio Giovanni Jones" she said looking at the eyes she knew would someday turn brown. Kissing her baby boy, she vowed to be the best mother she could as she gave up her dreams of law school and made plans to start training for a business career.

March 2011

John looked at his sister then frowned "Why are you upset about this. You know that we need that paper, besides, you were the one pushing me to get married."

"I just want you to be happy." she replied as she watched John frown again then said "John, for the last few years, I have watched you, watched as you closed up, as you became distant. First there was the affair with that old classmate of yours mother that I know still pisses her off."

"Olivia knew the rules, she knew the penalty." he said a bit short with his sister. The dark haired older woman had been a very brief affair when she had tried to trick him into attending a society party with her. John didn't socialize, he didn't deal well with those type of phony liars and backstabbers.

"What about that doctor?" she asked "I thought that the two of you would be perfect for one another."

That made the frown darker as he glared at his sister. Early 2007 he had been in a meeting when after almost a year of the most annoying (but according to his doctor) phantom illnesses, he had landed in the hospital with what he had been convinced was appendicitis. Only for the blond female doctor treating him to tell him he was perfectly fine expect for the cramps and the fast beating heart that had lasted six hours then just gone away on its own.

He had bedded her, then quickly left town for a three weeks, shocked at the strange way he had been acting. His best friend was still convinced he had a mental breakdown. John had been watching the Superbowl when a commercial had caused the man thought unemotional to break down in tears.

Jason was still ragging on him about how a commercial with a young father handing his newborn baby to it's mother had sent him into tears. He had begun to distance himself from the happily married man but the blond wouldn't let him.

Lisa had moved into his penthouse while he was gone, shocking the hell out of him when he returned, now she was stalking some doctor at the hospital where she worked but at the time he had had a very hard time getting rid of the insane blond.

"She belongs in a padded cell." he snapped. "Look, we need that casino license and Spencer is quite happy to marry his daughter off in exchange for it. Luna is already planning the wedding and as long as she and her mother leave me alone, I could care less what they spend or who they invite."

Exasperated she looked at him then said "You might want to think about remembering her name, it is Lulu, not Luna."

"Lulu, Luna, who cares." he said standing then turning to her. "I have to meet her in Port Charles so that we can meet with that reporter but when I get back, we should make plans with your pal Jax regarding his idea of opening up a casino in Montreal."

In Port Charles, Lulu was exiting her cousin Carly's jet and hurried to where the limo was waiting. "I am so glad you sent your jet, I couldn't bear to fly in a commercial airplane."

Carly looked at her cousin, wondering what was up with that, seriously, did Lulu forget where she came from as she sniffed and talked about the riff raff that flies commercial. When the car didn't pull off, she looked at her cousin and said "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"My son, Michael is returning from San Diego where he has been visiting AJ." she replied.

"Oh..." she said then frowned a bit when that was all Carly said. She needed her cousin to truly believe that she had turned into Queen bitch if she was going to pull this off. Finally she came up with her next insult. "Are you sure he is coming in today? The pilot said we were the only private flight coming in."

"Michael is flying commercial." she said in an icy tone. "He knows that it is pretentious to be using a private jet when it isn't an emergency or when you are by yourself."

Lulu sat back, ignoring the comment, wishing that her cousin would have been a bit bitchier. Thinking on the insults that had been suggested, but that she knew would be too far, Lulu gave a slight smile as she imagined what Carly would have said if she had used the ones suggested by her co-hort.

_That was why Carly was a wife of a big man in a very small pond, she had no idea none, about what the people with real power and money did. How when she married John, the entire fleet of Zachara jets, cars and boats would be at her disposal and she would never have to deal with people she didn't want to ever again._

When John arrived in Port Charles, he ignored his fiancee as she complained about having to plan a wedding in a podunk town like this one just because her brother and father were small town big shots. Already looking forward to the day she didn't have to listen to her parents if she succeeded, Lulu began to complain about her dress.

"The worst part, the only dress shop in town qualified to fix my dress is owned by this horrible, no class girl I knew before I went to school. Maxie Jones lost her virginity on the Internet, can you believe that?" she snickered wincing a bit, but knowing that if he went looking into it, he would learn of her rumored involvement in the blond's humilation.

"Sounds like she did okay if she owns the shop, Lulu." said the man entering from the doorway. Looking at his boss, he said "Morgan will be available at four."

"Thanks, Cody. Would you please arrange for a car to take my fiancee home when we are ready to leave." he asked annoyed at the blond's constant yapping. Thank god after they had a couple of kids, he would be able to pay her off and get rid of her.

The man nodded then left and for at least five seconds, John took in the silence but it was soon shattered as Lulu seemed to regroup and looked at him then said "You need to talk to that man. He is way too friendly with you. He works for you and should treat you like you are his superior. Never mind his utter gall in calling either of us by our first names. I mean, please who is he? Some nobody you hired out of pity, you really need to stop that. I mean, what will your..."

John just tuned her out, wishing that he had a pair of earplugs as the woman acting like the Queen mother went on and on while wearing a pair of four inch heels with her otherwise conservative suit. While her hair was perfectly styled, her makeup was less than subtle and clearly applied with a heavy hand.

As he looked at her, imagining what his sister's stylist could hopefully do, he stood and walked to the window, never hearing her voice becoming shrill as she accused him of ignoring her. The phone in his pocket vibrated and turning he cut her off and said "Your car is waiting downstairs. I will see you in time for the meeting with the reporter."

Her jaw dropping at success in getting herself dismissed, Lulu started to leave then turned to say "Don't forget to get my engagement ring and make sure that the carets are at least more than the one my mother wears. If you go to the House of Alcazar, they can steer you in the right direction, after all my mother's ring came from there. And platinum, not gold."

In the car, she debated calling the man she loved, but Lulu knew that she couldn't ruin the plan, that she couldn't' take the chance, not if she wanted her freedom.

Across town, John was entering Jason's office building and was soon sent to the private elevators. "Morgan."

"Be right with you." said the older man before hanging up. "Sorry, we have to make this quick, my son has a game tonight and if I don't make it in time, Elizabeth is going to kill me."

Finishing their business, John asked. "I need to find a jeweler, but not Alcazar."

He had no intention, none of catering to his wife. Lulu and his marriage was strictly a business arrangement, nothing more and she would have to learn to stop ordering him about. Yes, she needed a ring, but that didn't mean he would do what she wanted.

"Wyndham's is best." said Jason. "My legal secretary should be here soon with the documents, Diane had to alter the one clause to squeak it through state law. Do you mind waiting for her to arrive?"

"No, I will be fine." said John sighing when the man left. That was the reason his marriage to Lulu Spencer was perfect, she would know better than to bother him with trivial things like kids' events, that would be her domain while his would be to make lots and lots of money. Wishing he was back in New York as he looked at the park across the street, he missed hearing soft footsteps that came though the open door.

Seeing the man her boss was doing business with waiting, Georgie hurried into the room, eager to get out of here and join Antonio at the playground where his uncle Matt had taken him. "Sir?"

When the man turned, Georgie hid her shock at his resemblance to the man she had known long ago in Italy. The man in front of her though had his hair neatly kept and was wearing a suit she would bet cost more than what she paid yearly in daycare for her son. Her body reacted and she tried to regain control but nothing was stopping the clammy sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at the man, the very uncanny resemblance to her ex lover, the father of her son.

Stunned as Georgie Jones entered the office, John could only stare, not hearing what she was saying his eyes traveling the length of her still incredible body, until he saw the ring on her hand, that stopped the looks. Clearly the woman he had remembered had moved on. When his phone vibrated, he answered on autopilot. "What?"

"Yes, Lulu I hear you." he snarled even as he began to debate telling her their plans were off over the phone. No woman, least of all his wife was going to talk to him like that.

Georgie's eyes went from the legal file in her hand to the man and hid her amusement knowing he must be the man that the Spencers had convinced to save themselves from bankruptcy. The city was pulling their gambling license and pretty much the whole town knew that Luke had remodeled his riverboat casino with money he didn't have.

Looking at Georgie, he started to talk to her only for Diane Miller to enter the room and take over for the brunette who fled like she was being chased by demons. "John, here are the documents, I am a bit worried regarding your rather generous offer to your future in laws."

"I want them far away, this will make that happen." he replied coldly. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have plans."

Diane watched as the dark haired man left, then looked around the room. "Why do I feel like I missed something?"

Hurrying to the department store, John looked quickly at the rings, then said the man behind the counter, "I will take that one, in a six."

"Very good sir, do you want it gift wrapped?"

"Do I look like I give a damn?" he answered as his eyes traveled the store. Receiving the ring as soon as the counter person returned, he was on his way to the hotel ensconced in the black Mercedes that his sister normally used.

His eyes watched out the window with unseeing eyes, growing colder as he thought about all his fiancee and he needed to talk about, John's vision suddenly came into focus when he saw Georgie at the entrance of the park, still wearing the soft ecru suit and lifting a picnic basket from the trunk of her car.

"Driver, pull over here, I will walk the rest of the way." he announced then ignoring the man's reminder that he had wanted to be at the hotel by four closed the door after hopping out. Walking swiftly he saw her joining a man and a young boy by the swings.

Standing hidden behind a tree, he felt his heart stop when he heard the little boy call her Mommy and then rush over to hug her. When Georgie knelt on the already spread blanket and embraced what could only be her son, John felt something inside of him twist in a knot then harden.

His face tensed, then looking at his watch, walked away, feeling like he had lost something dear to him without even knowing what it was. In the lobby ten minutes after four, John saw his fiancee with a fake smile standing to greet him and press a kiss on his check. With a terse, almost ordering tone, she said "Darling, I apologized to the reporter and told him that you were caught up with business."

Returning the fake smile, he looked at the reporter and with an equally phony politeness, said to the man. "If you will excuse my fiancee and I for a moment?"

Lulu stood, taking his arm certain he was about to give her her engagement ring, led him down the hall to use her cousin's office. "Well, where were you?"

Closing the door, he looked at the woman he was marrying and said "Don't you ever talk like that to me again in front of anyone again. Let's get this straight. This is a marriage of convenience, mine I need a wife to be trained to act as my hostess and to bear my children. Your family needs money."

Wanting to say she had no intention of being pregnant with his child, let along marry him, Lulu said "I was only trying to help."

"Don't try." he snarled. "Here, the ring to use as an excuse for how long this is taking. Like you were told before, don't say a word to the reporter, let me do all the talking."

Opening the box, she closed it and said "This isn't the ring I wanted."

"Tough, it is the ring I am offering. Do you really think that until you are my wife, that I would trust you with anything worth more than that?" he mocked. Seeing her turn white, he said "I think you are now getting the situation. Your father could have just sold me the rights to the license, instead he tried to blackmail me. Lucky for you, my father is pushing me to settle down. You were at the right place and the right time, nothing more."

"I won't be talked to this way. I deserve your respect." she said her voice trembling in very real fear. Her whole live had been on her terms, she had always been able to deal with her boyfriends, especially after they had slept together. John and she had had sex once; afterwords, he had stood up from the desk they had had sex on and then told her that he was flying to London in the morning. The worst part had been that it hadn't been making love, it had been sex, with no words, no gentleness, it was what had finally made her realize the futility of dealing with this man.

"I will give your respect when you treat others around you with respect." he said. "Lulu, you are window dressing, nothing more. Your own parents are selling you with your permission like a car at auction. Your brothers, hell, they have been asking what is in it for them regarding this marriage."

"You are buying the Spencer family name, that has some clout around here." she said tersely tired of this, she didn't want to marry him, he was the one pushing things, not her.

Outright laughter came from the man. "Then truly, this town is bereft of anything regarding class. Now, shall we talk to the man, Luna."

"Why are you acting like this?" she asked in shock as the man seemed even more tense, bitter and edgy then ever.

"Nothing involving my money, so don't worry about it." he said then counted to ten before apologizing. "That was a bit too far. Look, Luna, we are getting married, but you need to know, that changes are coming and that this is no more than a business deal."

"Lulu." she snapped. "My name is Lulu. Who the hell is Luna?"

"No one." he said truthfully then walked to the reporter who mainly stuck to the business questions while watching what was clearly not a love match.

Matt watched as Georgie seemed preoccupied after they had driven to her small house. Washing up her dishes, he recalled his shock at not only learned Mac Scorpio, his biological father had daughters but that he was also an uncle.

His mother had never gotten in touch with his father, instead she had married another man, one who had been a great father, but Matt had always felt like there was something missing, some link not forged. The day that Dwayne Hunter had sat him down, explained the truth had been one of the worst of his life.

Now, he had a great job, a family that had accepted him with open arms when they had gotten over their shock and a place where he finally felt like he belonged. Seeing his sister returning he said "What is it?"

"Nothing, it's nothing, except..." Looking at him she said "Except it isn't. There was this man today, at the office, he reminded me of Antonio's father. My mind won't let it go and that year in Italy, it is surfacing in spite of how deeply I buried it."

"You have never talked about it, at least according to Maxie." he said in a leading tone.

"I told them that where he claimed to work, never heard of him, his apartment, well it wasn't his. I think he was subletting." she said standing and walking over to the window. "Matt, I fell for him, deeply. He was my first and I guess some part of me, thought we would have this dream life. Antonio aside, he left me with nothing more than a broken heart and a cheap bracelet that turned my skin green when I wore it."

"But he still owns your heart, doesn't he?" Matt asked thoughtfully.

Georgie turned and looked at him then said "He always will but only because he gave me my son. I look at him and see a miracle. At least when he is asleep."

"I was hoping." he said ironically. "Considering he is a terror at daycare."

When Georgie had walked off, Matt made a call to Maxie and then to Robin who both promised to do what he asked. When Georgie came to him later and asked if he would babysit the following night, he knew that their sister and cousin would get it out of her, whatever was bothering Georgie would be in the open and they could deal with it.

John was at the hotel early the next morning, having both attorney's go over the contact with a fine tooth comb. "Make sure that Spencer can't get anymore than I want to give him."

Diane and her counterpart, Alexis Davis Scorpio just nodded and went back to going over the clauses. John was a bit annoyed when Ms. Scorpio seemed to look up and stare assessingly at him. "Is there a problem?"

"No, I just have no idea who you remind me of." she said frowning a bit. "Yet, it is almost like I know you."

Walking out of the main room of the suite to the terrace, John leaned against the balcony and called his sister. "Are you sure that Alexis Scorpio is that great of an attorney, she seems a little off."

"Alexis, she is better than great. John, she is one of the best in the world at contact law. What is bothering you?" she asked her mind on the probing call from Laura Spencer that morning.

"She keeps saying I remind her of someone." he said. "Add that to the staring and it concerns me."

"Relax, I know what she is talking about." said Claudia her mind on the cute little boy that had reminded her of her brother the first time she had met him. "Alexis' grandson, he is dark like you and the couple of times I have seen him, he gave me the same reaction. At first I was wondering if you had an affair with her daughter but rejected it when I talked to her. So unless you were lying about being in Italy and where instead in Port Charles a few years ago, I would say that you have nothing to worry about."

Shuddering at the idea of children, John said "You know I was in Italy, you dragged me back remember?"

"John a contact that should have taken three weeks at the most, had you there for four months. We have a business to run, remember? Someday you will have to explain your attraction to Venice because other than Milan, I have no use for any other part of Italy. Most certainly not enough for it to be the only place I vacation like you do."

Not wanting to discuss that, John quickly turned the conversation to matters of business for the rest of a call. When the women found something they needed to check, John was restless so he went down to the lobby hoping to avoid his future in laws. Ducking into a small boutique when he saw Ethan Spencer talking to a tall blond, he was soon greeted with may I help you.

"Uh no." he replied then looked at the blond. "I know this is going to sound like a pickup line, but do I know you?"

"NO, at least I think I would remember a man that looked like you." said Maxie humorously then heard her phone ringing. "Buttons and Bows."

"Maxie, it's Georgie. Do you still have that red dress?" she asked her eyes frowning as she looked at Laura Spencer who had just pissed her off beyond measure.

"The one I wanted to get for you, yeah. Does that mean you want to wear it tonight?" she asked excitedly. "I mean it is a little dressy for Jake's."

"At this point, I don't care. I just had a run in with Laura Spencer and her suddenly republican views. She was talking to some reporter and suggested that people like me are a drain on the system." she said suddenly laughing as she got over the blond's suddenly bitchy remarks. "How do you think she would react if I reminded her that her husband was a rapist/con artist/failed mobster and that her son the drug addict former cop is more of a drain that an single mom who had managed to survive without anyone's help but her families."

Maxie wanted to laugh but with the Lulu's fiancee standing there she couldn't so she just said "I will bring the dress, you bring the old you. Wait, is Matt babysitting tonight?"

Hanging up after getting her answer, Maxie watched as John walked around her store then looked at her approvingly. "If you ever decide to do this on a larger national or even regional scale, give me a call."

Taking the offered business card, Maxie waited until he was gone, then tossed it in the trash muttering "Never in a million years would I work with Lesley Lu Spencer's husband."

"How about me?" asked Jasper Jacks as he came through her back storage room door. "Thanks for this by the way."

Taking his credit card and swiping it while putting the dress in a carrier, she grinned and said "Any day regarding both the business idea and the dress purchase. I love it when you are in the dog house, my bottom line goes up. So who is this one for?"

"None of your business." he said with a smirk and hit her on the end of her nose. "You know, if you were only five years older, I would marry you in an instant. Someday I am going to be able to feel like less of a perv when you are around."

"Promises promises Jax." she said laughing as the flirt left. She was well aware that the man had been one of her biggest supporters after someone had tried to ruin her life over being Prom queen. Jax had had his internet genius along with Jason Morgan's man and a friend of hers remove all of that horrible incident from view.

Georgie was checking her hair when Maxie brought in the dress. "Wow, she really pissed you off today."

Robin who had dropped off Emma in Antonio's room entered and said "I heard something about that from Bobbie. Do you have any idea why Laura was being so rude?"

"No." she said even as she slipped the dress up and turned for them to zip it up. "I saw her at the office the other day, but figured she was there to talk to her future son in law. I didn't ask."

"Maybe she thinks you are trying to steal Lulu's rich fiancee away." said Maxie. "I met him earlier, by the way. He does look like the man in your pictures, I can see why he bothered you."

Suddenly getting what the GNO was about. Georgie said "Matt told you?"

"He was worried." said Maxie. "We all know that your heart is still a bit wounded by that jerk."

"Maxie." Georgie only said her name in warning. Her sister knew there was no bad mouthing the man, that she didn't ever want her little boy to hear them talking like that about his father.

"Okay, but are you ready now?" she asked then handed her sister the small purse and said "Shall we party til the cows come home?"

"The girls are meeting us at the bar." said Robin as they said their goodbyes to their children and reminded Matt to call them if he needed anything.

John was ready to get drunk, Luke Spencer was pissy about the delay and he was about to tell the opportunist man what he thought off him when he saw Jason Morgan entering the hotel alone. "Where is your wife?"

"Having a girls night out. Once a month, she gets together with some women friends, heads to a local dive bar and they do tequila shooter, rag on men, discuss their problems and then call us to get rides home."

"You allow your wife to complain about you to other women?" he asked shocked at the idea.

"I don't allow anything. John, marriage is a partnership. I knew when we got together about these nights, I actually think it is great that they can vent with other women who understand. Like tonight, one of the women ran into some man that reminded her of the rat who ran off and left her pregnant at nineteen. An sos call went out and they will all get together and help her deal with her emotions."

"Sounds like the man is less than honorable." he said with a frown. "No child of mine will ever grow up without me in his life, grow up illegitimate."

"It's a long story and hers to tell so I won't say anymore but I do know that her son is a wonderful little boy, he plays with my son Jake at daycare." Jason added.

"You don't have a nanny?" John asked now totally stunned.

"No, we do have help but Jake goes to daycare to socialize with other kids." he explained.

"But-" John wanted to say it couldn't be much of a daycare if it took in the kid of a single mom who couldn't have much money. Hearing his name being called he asked Jason if they could find a place to talk away from the hotel."

"I have an idea, why don't I show you a GNO in action." he said slightly humorously. In the last few years he had seen John Zachara go from a friend to a slightly standoffish businessman to the tightly wound, controlling man who refused to see any opinions but his own.

Wanting the man who knew there was more to life than business back, he couldn't help thinking that maybe he could crack the shell that seemed to have grown thicker after John's mother's death several years ago.

Jakes was lively when they entered the packed bar. "You let your wife hang out here?" he asked shocked as Jason led him to a corner booth with a reserved sigh on it.

"Morgan, what can I get for you?" asked Patrick Drake holding up an empty beer bottle. "We might not be needed tonight. Looks like very little drinking is going on."

"Two beers." said Jason then when the doctor had left turned to the other man. "That is Patrick Drake, brain surgeon his wife is the dark haired woman standing next to Elizabeth. They have a little girl named Emma."

Wondering why Morgan was bothering to explain, he soon had a beer as the two men went over the others. Seeing the hot looking woman in the red dress, John found himself wishing he had the time to play since for the first time in a long time... no that wasn't true. He had been aroused at the sight of his ex lover Georgie.

Frowning a bit, he wondered about hooking up with the party girl when he got what Drake was saying. "I met her today, she had a nice set up."

"Maxie is a whirlwind." he said. "Okay, let's see. The woman patting the owner on the rear is Kelly Lee, baby doc, the woman removing her is Lainey Winters, head doc. Oops, the girl that Elizabeth just helped sit down is Emily, Jason's sister and married to his brother in law."

John knew that, he had met the intern a few years ago at one of Elizabeth's art shows. He had been astonished to learn she painted in between a very busy medical career and raising two kids. Looking at the girl in the red dress, he was wishing she would turn so he could see if the front matches the back when he heard what Jason was saying.

"That's Georgie, Maxie's sister and the girl they are having the GNO for."

John frowned and said "She works for you right?"

"Yes and no. She did when she was a paralegal. Now that she has passed the bar, she works with her step mother Alexis Davis and Diane Miller." replied Jason taking a sip of beer. "Six and half years to graduate, not bad for a single mom doing it all on her own."

"I saw her with the baby's father, they were in the park yesterday." he offered up, hoping to be told they were no longer together as watching her was making him wish that it was four year ago.

"No, that would have been Matt, her brother. He picked her son up from daycare." said Patrick "Matt has been the man in Antonio's life."

With a feeling of dread and looking at the brunette he said "Antonio?"

"Named after her Uncle Tony." said Drake. "He is my boss at the hospital. I had just moved here when she gave birth. I went looking to report in to my new boss and met my wife and fell into lust, then love, then anger, then grief at the end of my single days and finally marriage."

John laughed at the description, the doc did have his moments. Feeling a bit of relief since Antonio was awfully close to his father's name of Anthony he listened as the man went on about his wife. "We meet in January, were fighting it then I had a patient die, she comforted me and then wanted to kill me when she found out she was pregnant. It took until our daughter was born to convince her to marry me. Now we have a happy two year old and luckily for both Georgie and Robin lots of family members that love to babysit."

"You should hire a nanny." said John automatically.

"Not in this lifetime. Mac and his wife raised his stepdaughters, Georgie and Maxie by themselves. His daughter with Alexis is now a teenager and then they have Matt. None of whom had nannies." said Patrick. "Its why they turned out so well."

Thinking on what Lulu had said about Maxie, John wanted to protest but he had seen Georgie looking at someone then take a shot of what looked like tequila. Hearing shouting, he turned in time to see a tall blond woman shouting a man then turn to a woman with long red hair. "What on earth?"

Watching as Jason went to intervene, Patrick continued talking.

"Carly Spencer Quartermaine Alcazar, the man she is yelling at is Ric Lansing and the woman with him is Skye. Her adopted mother was an alcoholic and I don't know the whole story, Jason might know it but what I do know, Skye has been trying to stay clean and Lansing is a sleaze ball looking for a rich wife. The blond appointed herself Skye's protector after she helped her give birth a few years ago."

When the red head left with the blond, they saw Jason saying something to the man who scampered out of the bar while Morgan returned. "Sorry about that. Skye should know better than to trust him. She ordered bottled water but Lansing tried to give her vodka."

"That man is a menace." fumed Drake. "Why was Skye here, she usually stays away from the GNO's."

Jason gave him a hard glare and John saw Drakes eyes widen as the blond decided they needed fresh beers in spite of only take a few sips of his. "Care to tell me what that look is about?"

"No really, it involves your fiancee's family." said Patrick coldly as he recalled who the man was. "If you will excuse me I am going to suggest to my wife we head home."

Within moments of Robin leaving, several of the others reluctantly started to head out until it was only Maxie and Georgie who were waiting for their ride. Georgie saw that that sad sack Damian Spinelli was entering Jake's looking a bit worse for wear and told her sister she would see her later.

Maxie sighed then went to take care of her old friend grateful that Georgie had had fun even if she hadn't opened up anymore. John said goodbye to the Morgans then went to the bar to order something a bit harder than beer before returning to his hidden seat.

As he overheard the loser spilling his guts in a rather confusing manner about the blond one he loved who had forsaken him for another and Maxie trying to sober him up, John decided to finish his drink and leave when he heard his fiancees name.

Frowning a bit as the geek started to make more sense as he talked about her, John ordered another drink when the bartender came over deciding he had to find out what was going for some reason.

When the man he had seen at the park with Georgie arrived then took the crying loser off, John was getting ready to outright ask Maxie what was going on when someone else arrived and beat him to it. "Spinelli?"

"Spinelli." she replied. "That tart Lulu was using him for information on that man she trapping into marriage then when he told her he loved her she told him that she couldn't see herself with a man like Spinelli, that he would never ever be anything more than a friend; this after according to Spin, they slept together."

John froze, Lulu? Had slept with the geeky kid.

"I can't believe her. I wonder if that Zachara knows what he is getting into." speculated the other man.

"She is very good at using those around her. Look what she did to me. We all know that what Kyle did to me was because she was so desperate to be prom queen." said Maxie with a bitter tone. "Yet she goes around holding me up to be stoned. Then there was Georgie's boyfriend, you remember Dillon Hornsby. When she wouldn't sleep with him-"

"Lulu did and then blamed Georgie when they got caught." said the man in disgust. "She managed to make Georgie feel so guilty that she fled the country after it was Lulu in the wrong."

"Georgie loved Italy though." said Maxie then confessed. "Besides, if she hadn't gone to Italy we wouldn't have her son."

"Little bugger bit me today." said the man laughing. "I stopped in to see Brenda and Robin had both Emma and him from daycare. He was not happy I was hugging her and bit me on the arm."

"Dante, seriously, you were taken out by a three year old?" asked Maxie laughing for a moment then her mood changed. "I know you didn't get anyplace when you ran the name that Georgie had but she was at Morgan Enterprises the other day. The man that Lulu is marrying, he resembles her Giovanni. I was hoping that with a better description..." John could feel the buzzing in his ears return as he listened to the two of them discussing his past with Georgie and that the man she knew was the father of her son.

"Why stir up this hornet's nest?" asked the PI.

"Georgie needs closure, some part of her is still in love with him, the cad." frowned Maxie. "And she is right about someday needing to know what to tell Antonio. She was so hurt when she came home, yet when her little boy was born, we were all forbidden to say a negative word in her house about him. She is still protecting him, she needs to move on, Dante."

His mind on the lovely brunette who had unavailable clearly stamped on her forehead, Dante said softly "You are right, she does. I will do some looking around. Would you like a ride home?"

"Thanks, yes." she said then picking up her bag, checked with Coleman that the bill was paid before leaving only the owner and the man in the booth in the bar.

John looked around, then at the man who had been talking to all his customers, and thought about his father's advice that if you want the truth about a man, ask his barber or his bartender. Moving to the counter he pulled out a stack of large bills. "If you give me an honest answer about each person I name, I will give you a hundred dollar bill. Do we have a deal."

The bar was closed and Coleman told him what he wanted to know. John sat quietly then said "Thank you."

"Your welcome." with that he tucked the large sum into his pocket and locked the door behind the man who had gotten into the back seat of the waiting limo. Then looking at his liquor license called Mac Scorpio and left a message at the station for the man.

"Tell Scorpio that Spencer is using his gambling license to convince Zachara to marry his daughter."

Mac got the message early the next morning, never seeing the man parked across the street from his house as John debated following the police office to see if he could find out where Georgie lived. His people had found nothing, no utility bills, no mortgage, nothing in the name Georgie Jones or any variation of that name.

When the police commissioner pulled into the hotel where he was staying, John peeled off, never knowing that the man he wanted to talk to was looking to talk to him.

Meanwhile Lulu was getting desperate, she couldn't abandon her family but she didn't want to be a bigamist. She loved Logan but they both knew when her parents found out who he was, that they would go ballistic.

Calling Texas, she asked. "Did you find anything, please, even a slight rumor would help. I have to get him to be the one to break the contact."

"Nothing, the man is a machine, all business no play." said her husband. "Lulu, I am coming up there, you can't do this alone."

"If my father sees you, no, stay there." she said.

The blond didn't answer, he had no intention of letting Lulu face this alone.

Georgie was sitting on the edge of Antonio's bed, her mind on the dark haired man and his strong resemblance to Giovanni. "I wish, baby, oh I wish he was the man I need to see. I am so sorry, Antonio, you need a daddy. You deserved a daddy."

Her mind on the way that John Zachara trembled in fear and Georgie thought about her ex-lover and how gentle he had always been. Walking to her room, she pulled down the acid free box, then opened it. Taking out the picture of them at the beach, she wished the sun wasn't shining directly in their faces.

Her mind kept trying to convince her that he was Giovanni, but her heart, her heart knew that it wasn't true. Giovanni was gone, lost in the wind, he had left her, left their son even if he hadn't known about him. The hot tears made paths down her cheeks as Georgie couldn't help wondering what it was about her that made him lie to her.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

John spent most of the day looking for Georgie, avoiding his sister and his fiancée and ignoring the calls from his attorneys, needing the time to figure out what was bothering him. He knew this feeling, it wasn't doom, it wasn't confidence, it was that something someplace was going to need dealt with.

While his talk with Coleman the bartender had given him a clearer picture of the residents of this small town, it had done nothing to solve his problems. Whatever and whoever the Spencers were, they controlled the only gambling license for Port Charles and they needed it in order to move forward with the plans the company already had underway. Simply put, they had a couple of million dollars tied up in this, too much to walk away without a huge hassle.

Frustrated and after getting a coffee at the small diner on the docks John was about to call and ask Jason for Georgie's address when he saw the woman herself enjoying the early spring as she walked along side the harbor as the sun began to sit across the harbor.

Reminded of the days he had spent with her, walking the streets of Verona, spending time in the fresh produce markets. Heading to Venice and spending the afternoon touring the churches, museums and old houses, he sighed when he saw she didn't seem to even see him.

"Georgie?" he called out, his voice crackling slightly as she stopped, looked at him then shook her head as if in disbelief before continuing on. "Hey, I was talking to you."

Her hands shaking as her mind was once again reminded of the man she had once loved, Georgie turned and said "What can I do for you, Mr. Zachara?"

"Mr. Zachara?" he asked his feelings a bit hurt at the tone, she was acting like he was a complete stranger. "Georgie, what is going on?"

John saw the confused expression on her face as she looked at him. An uncomfortable silence caused the wall between them to grow even taller until she looked at him and said "Look, Mr. Zachara, you look a lot like this guy I knew several years ago, its just strange for me. I have no idea why you are even talking to me; we met what, once in Jason's office."

"Can we sit down." he asked leading her to the bench then said "You- you really don't remember..." Frustrated because he didn't know what he wanted to say, he could only stare at the woman he had spent one of the most enjoyable winters of his life with.

Georgie could feel his eyes on her, the way they seemed to pick her apart, from the frayed jeans she had on to the casual top that had a bit of strained peas on it. Now certain he wasn't her Giovanni because he had never made her feel this ill at ease, she looked up and their eyes met brown on brown before she ducked her head and started to stand.

"Wait, this guy, he- you really don't get it, do you?" Stuck yet again, he forgot about finesse and just blurted out the name he had used while in Italy. "The man you knew, his name, it was Giovanni."

At that, her head came up, her eyes narrowed and instead of joy, he was shock as there was clearly anger and pain on her face as her eyes opened up then seemed to dissect him bit by bit. Taking in the clearly expensive suit and compared it to the man she had loved wearing jeans and t-shirts. The carefully cut hair, the very well shined shoes then thought about the man who had usually looked like just any other student in Verona.

Then she looked at him, her mind started to merge John and Giovanni. John watched as she tensed up, feeling the need to cry even as she looked him in the eyes. "I don't understand, why? Why would you tell me your name was Giovanni, when it clearly isn't? Why would you pretend to be a hardworking but broke Italian when you aren't?"

John saw her face, saw the pain and was dealing with it until he saw the tears flowing, the tightly gripped hands as she asked hoarsely "WHY?"

"Why what?" he asked not wanting for them to be at cross purposes when they had so much to talk about.

"Why what?" she asked, her anger now full fledged rage. "WHY? I want to know why you lied to me about who you were, where you worked, where you lived. Was it a game, was it fun making me act like an idiot. I LOVED Giovanni, I THOUGHT he felt the same way about me, but clearly... clearly it was nothing more than a game. A rich boy slumming with the peasants for lord knows what sick reason."

Backing away until she was out of his reach, Georgie turned to run only to be caught as he quickly stopped her and held her against his body. Not letting go but turning her he said "No, we need to talk."

"Talk?" she asked in a bitter tone. "What is there to TALK about? You want to talk? What do you want to talk about, you LIED TO ME about everything?"

Thrown by the wounded anger in her voice he tried to explain even as he recalled all the times he had gone back to Italy only to find she was gone, that she hadn't left a forwarding address. He had known he was wrong to be looking for her in Italy, then putting her out of his mind when he returned home, yet, he hadn't been able to help himself.

"It wasn't about you. I was sorry to be lying to you, but it wasn't about you." He finished on a lame note as he saw her advancing on him clearly furious.

"It wasn't about me?" she hissed "If I had been the one giving you a false name, lying about where I lived, my entire life when we were together, would you think it wasn't about you? No, you wouldn't. I am not going to stand here and listen to your lies, your justification."

"I need to talk to you." he tried insisting only for Georgie to turn.

Desperately wanting to slap his face; a face she had dreamed about for years, she instead just walked away. "I don't give a damn what you need."

Entering Kelly's, Georgie picked up her to go order, ignoring the silent man who had followed her inside the diner. "Thank you Penny, keep the change."

"Thanks Georgie." said the waitress while John followed the woman grandly ignoring him out the diner. When she refused to acknowledge him, just kept walking, acting like his being behind her didn't matter one iota, John was determined to at least make her talk, and they clearly needed to.

Arriving in the parking lot, he frowned when he saw her getting into a car that reminded him of all the time they had spent in her little Mini Cooper, driving around, talking, and discussing everything and nothing. "Surely you don't drive your son around in this. I saw you the other day, with a much nicer car. Why on earth would you endanger your life in this piece of crap?"

"Go away." she said when he stood beside her car while she placed her order in the passenger side floor of the old Mustang. Ignoring his questions about her car, she frowned a bit at when he could of seen her in the car she had bought for driving around with Antonio. It had been her first big purchase, after graduating a few years earlier. "Or I will have you arrested for stalking. Johnny, go away, I will have you arrested."

"Look, it was innocent, I didn't mean for you to get wrapped up in my life." he said unknowingly reminding her of the way he had fled and then had had people lie about his whereabouts.

"Funny, the way you were chasing me, you certainly seemed to want me wrapped up in your life, to bad I didn't figure out it was only your bed you wanted me in." she bit out at him feeling like a fool for how gullible she had been. She had been a naive young virgin, believing that he had loved her as much as she had loved him. "An omission is the same damn thing as a lie, Mr. Zachara. What about your lie regarding working in the casino, I know that wasn't the truth, I humiliated myself by going there and asking for you."

"It really wasn't completely a lie. I was sent to get a feel for the place. We had a contact in place to buy it and things weren't adding up. I was there to see what I could find out." He had met Georgie, at what had been the lowest point in his life, she had changed all that and what should have taken a weekend had ended taking four months as he found himself falling in love with the young woman.

"You-you don't get it do you. I feel used, like I was some fly by night affair." she whispered the pain almost killing her. She would never, ever forget how she had felt when she found out that Giovanni hadn't actually existed.

"No, Georgie, you were never that." he said wanting her to believe him, to at least get that he had lo-cared about her. He couldn't love her, not now, too many years had passed, his life was now one of order and love, love was anything but orderly. He was going to marry Lulu, get the casino license, have a few kids, and then pay her off. He wasn't going to take a chance and end up like his father, mourning for the rest of his life, no, not him.

"No? John, you let me believe that you were someone else, you told me you loved me, then flitted out of town so quickly a mere two weeks after you finally got me into bed. Your words were saying one thing, your actions another. I still don't get why we went to Lake Coma, what was it, a kiss off for finally giving in to your seduction? " she crisply pointed out, her pain now back under control as her head reminded her heart that there was no going back.

"You aren't listening to me. It wasn't like that." he protested. He had been in Italy for because his father had wanted him out of his sight, had even told him so. He had been negligent and as a result, his mother had paid the price. Maria had taken his car to town, unaware that John hadn't filled the gas tank. She had pulled over to call for gas and when she had stepped out of the car, locked her keys inside.

His fragile mother had been outside, in the 100 degree heat for over an hour. The hospital had said her coma was from dehydration and heat exhaustion. All because he hadn't bothered to fill his tank and had taken one of the spare cars instead.

His father had been so angry, so defeated that Claudia had had to step in and run the business. Almost nine months later, Maria had woken up and been released to go home. For two weeks, it had been absolute bliss until one day his father had woken up in bed to a wife with no pulse. John had left for Italy after his father had blamed him for his mother's death.

It would take meeting Georgie for him to slowly accept that he needed the truth. It would take his sister ordering him home for the truth to come out. He had avoided his father for weeks, then months, however Claudia refused to give up and had finally forced them to talk.

He had been shocked to learn his mother's death had had nothing to do with her earlier medical problems, that in fact it was the result of a brain aneurysm. That his father had regretted blaming him in his moments of grief.

When he had started to have his own medical issues, his father had called in specialist after specialist, none had ever found anything. John froze as he recalled what one doctor had jokingly said. "If you were a woman, I would say you were pregnant, but clearly that isn't the problem here."

His mind yet sticking on that line that if you were a woman, I would say you were pregnant as he stared at Georgie, shocked at what he was thinking.

Annoyed that John was staring, that he had been doing so for almost five minutes without a word, she wretched her arm out of his hands and said "Stay away from me. Do you, you hear me, stay away!"

Hurrying to her car, Georgie drove home, hoping that Antonio was not as observant as the three year old usually was to her mood.. Pulling into her garage, she rushed inside trying to act like nothing was wrong when she saw him playing with his blocks while Kristina was talking on her cell phone. "Gotta call you later about working for you, Maxie."

Hanging up and grabbing her book bag so she could head out, Kristina said "Georgie, we went to the park, then to the mall. Sorry I couldn't stay any longer."

"Thanks for keeping him while I ran my errands." she said then when her sister had left, sat down on the floor, joining her son. "Oh, my little angel, Mommy has clearly stepped into a hornets nest this time."

Looking at her son, seeing the same features on his face that his father had, she rubbed his head, messing up the already tangled curls. Antonio, stopped playing for a moment, looked at his mommy then with a large smile said "Mommy, look car."

Spending a suitable amount of time admiring his latest acquisition, Georgie went to pick up one of his old favorites, planning on adding it to the Goodwill pile, she was a bit surprised when he said "Mine, mommy. Mine, my toy, my toy Mommy."

Giving him the bright yellow and green sports car, she watched as he took it and then stuck it between the sofa cushions. When he looked around then returned to play with his newest addition she leaned back then asked "What about this one?"

"No, you can have that one mommy." With that he picked up a silver one and said "Here, this too."

Mother and son played with the cars for a bit; when he went to get the car in the sofa she couldn't resist asking. "Antonio, why did you put that car in the sofa?"

The little boy leaned in and said "Mommy, cars go bye-bye. They go away."

A bit surprised, she felt guilty at what she had been doing. Her son had been being spoiled rotten with new cars from so many people, she had been getting rid of the less favored ones after he didn't ask about them for a couple of weeks. She had had no idea, none that he had even noticed.

Hugging him, she promised she would try to make sure that no more cars would go missing as he stood and trundled over to settle down on her lap. "I luvs you, mommy."

"Mommy loves her little big boy right back." she said kissing his forehead. "What do you say, grilled cheese, carrot stick and applesauce for dinner?"

When he shouted yah, she lifted him off her lap and held onto his hand as they towards to the kitchen. Helping her son climb up onto the bar stool, Georgie fixed them a few sandwiches then got out the jar of applesauce, making sure to put in some cinnamon.

Wincing as the curly haired boy got more of the food on the outside then in his belly; Georgie quickly loaded the dishwasher, then carried him up to the bathroom and started a bubble bath. As they played and cleaned him off of the cheese and applesauce, Antonio started to yawn.

Soon drying him off, then putting on his lotion, Georgie couldn't resist ticking him with her nose before carrying him into his bedroom. Settling him down under the light blanket, then looking around the blue and green room with the bed in the middle and the small young child furniture, she knew things were changing, they had to.

Picking out his Fox and Socks book, Georgie read to him, not get past page four, the repetitive words doing their job and easing him into sleep. Standing, she kissed Antonio then turned on his nightlight before heading to her own room.

Once she had showered and pulled on some pajamas, she climbed into bed and slowly let Mommy Georgie shut down so that she could let the emotions of the day and her past allow her to have a very long cry. As she wiped the tears and rolled onto her side, all she could think was what was going to happen now.

She had no choice but to tell Giov-John about Antonio. Not sure how she felt about it, not sure she trusted him with their innocent son. Would he walk away, not believing her, would he be angry and try to take her little boy away. Then there was his engagement to Lulu Spencer.

She had had her doubts over the years about the blond. While others thought she was malicious and cruel, Georgie thought it was more like she was self-centered and thoughtless. There was no way she wanted her son hurt by the future Mrs. Zachara.

In spite of having so much on her mind, Georgie drifted off to sleep aware that there was nothing she could do to solve her problems that evening.

John meanwhile had finally talked to Jason Morgan and had gotten a hold of Georgie's address. Driving over, he saw that the house was dark and frowned a bit annoyed to notice that it was only eight thirty. He needed to know what was going on so that he could move forward. He knew what he wanted, but did he have any right to go after it, after all he had done or rather hadn't done?

Arriving back at the penthouse trying to work things out in his mind, he groaned when he saw his sister sitting on the couch, waiting for him. "Okay, what is going on, John?"

"Nothing, there is nothing going on." he said with his back turned as he tossed his keys on his desk and avoided looking at her as he got a bottle of water off the wet bar. Feeling steady enough to be able to hide his confusion, he turned and asked "What is going on with you? Since when do you spend time up north? Dad said you haven't been to Crimson Point since Mom died, now you are here?"

Leaning back, her eyes assessing the dark haired handsome man in front of her, Claudia said "Wow, I haven't seen that expression since the day you came back from Italy a few years ago. Stop avoiding my question, John by asking questions."

"I am fine, look, I am tired. See you in the morning." with that, he slipped past her and up to his room. Claudia saw that it was barely nine o'clock then looked up the stairs. "Okay, little brother, what is going on with you?"

Taking out his phone, she looked at his most recent activity. Seeing his newest contact, she made another call. "Skye, do you know someone named Georgie who resides on Maple Drive?"

Upon hearing that the only Georgie Skye knew was a women, one who she had seen if only briefly in their lawyers New York office, Claudia's eyes narrowed as she remembered that this Georgie was the mother of a certain little boy. "Skye, how old is her son?"

At the answer, Claudia was ready to strangle someone, that urge got worse when she was told that Georgie came home from Italy pregnant. That some louse has knocked up the sweeter of the Jones girls left her to deal with everything alone, but that she had worked two jobs to take good care of herself and her son.

Hitting the end button, Claudia looked up the stairs with a cunning expression on her face as she tried to piece everything together. "Okay little brother, obviously you are in trouble and couldn't be bothered to come to me. Looks like I need to see this Georgie Jones myself. Then I will deal with taking out the trash for you."

Across town a blond man got off the long distance bus and made a call. "I am in town, where are you?"

Lulu looked at her family which were planning how they were going to spend the money John was giving them and said "It's a friend from Texas, I am going to take this outside."

Soon outside, she made sure to close the French doors, then said "Logan, what are you thinking? You know that I need more time, to fix things."

The blond was panicked, she couldn't disappoint her parents; she couldn't let them down. Not after Lucky and all that had gone down. Then her father's illegitimate son showed up, Ethan's very existence had created a rift between her parents that seemed to grow deeper every day.

"Lulu, I won't let the woman I love, MY WIFE do this all on her own. Remember, we promised no secrets, no lies." he reminded her. "I am going to get a room down at that bar you told me about."

The blond hung up and sat down in the rocking chair on her mother's front porch. Resting her head in her hands at how many different ways she had screwed this up, Lulu signed as she faced that her life was totally screwed up.

"Lulu, is everything okay? Was that John?" asked Laura as she sat down in the other rocker about an hour later as the meeting inside broke up. "Your wedding is going to be wonderful; I can see you now, walking down the aisle. You will have such a wonderful life."

Lulu rested her head on the back of the white rocker, and then looked at her mother. "I am not so sure, Mom. John and I... we really just don't meld. I feel like he keeps a part of him away from me. He has made it perfectly clear that my whole purpose is to have his kids and stay out of his life."

Laura laughed, then said "Lulu, all husbands are a bit confused at the beginning of marriage. Things will be fine, soon you will be traveling the world, and you will soon have everything I have ever wanted for you. What you should do is get pregnant right away; this should keep him in line."

Lulu wanted to ask for her family, or for herself. Closing her eyes, she thought about it, and then stood. "I have to go out, I will be back later."

Driving to the bar, she slipped up the back steps and saw the open door. Throwing herself into Logan's arms, she sobbed as she told him that their plan wasn't working. "It's almost like doesn't care, he just ignores me, he called me Luna. What are we going to do?"

Logan sat her down on the bed before taking a real good look at his wife. "What is it? Lulu, I know you, what haven't you told me?"

"Remember when I told you that I slept with him while we were apart?" she asked, worried about bringing up what was not a good memory for either of them. When the blond tersely nodded yes, she sobbed but said. "Mom, she sort of suggested it. Now, she wants me to get pregnant. I don't know what to do, I mean, I even tried to make it look like I slept with that computer geek but it hasn't worked, nothing has worked."

Rubbing her back, well aware that Lulu obeyed her parents because she thought of them as practically god like, Logan just rested his head on her shoulder and said "It's going to be fine, I promise."

"How? How is it going to be fine?" she asked as she hiccupped from the pressure of the sobs. She was going to end up a bigamist if she didn't fix this.

Logan didn't know the how, but there was no way that he was going to let Lulu deal with this burden, not without his help. If it came down to it, screw the idea of hiding he was Scott's son from the annoying family pushing Lulu into marriage. His loyalty was to his wife, not her family nor his unknown father.

John woke up at six, then showered and shaved; dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before heading out to talk to his father. He needed a clear head before approaching Georgie and the drive back and forth to Crimson Point would help with that.

Traveling down Maple, seeing that the lights were still out in the small cottage, he continued on, knowing that he had to find out the truth about what he was beginning to believe was his son.

Across town, Laura was happy to see that Lulu wasn't in her room, maybe her daughter had figured out that what she was advising was the best way to go. She had married for love twice, neither marriage had worked, hopefully her daughter had learned from her bad example.

Claudia hung up the phone, then looked at the man in front of her as she at an early breakfast. "I would like to hire you."

"Tell me about the case." Said Dante frowned halfway through her explanation. "You will need a different investigator. I am friendly with both Jones girls and honestly what they do and who they see is none of you business."

Stopping the man from leaving, thinking maybe she could get what she needed without delay, she said "What do you already know?"

"Nothing I am willing to share with you." He said distastefully. Walking out, he quickly called his ex-boss then called around trying to find out where Georgie was this morning.

Maxie answered the phone at Buttons and Bows, then stuttered at the questions from Dante. "She is at Elizabeth Morgan's. She takes Antonio over there in the mornings and they work with the boys on their swimming in the pool. Why?"

"I have to talk to her." He said grimly but was frustrated when his phone rang yet again, this time with a client he couldn't ignore. "Jax, I will see you at the hotel."

Making yet another call, he left the message with the Morgan's housekeeper for her to call him, then went to his meeting. Seeing Mac Scorpio exiting the elevator, he said "I have a meeting with Jasper Jacks, but if you see Georgie, tell her I am looking for her."

"I will, have you seen John Zachara? I haven't had a chance to give him the news about Luke Spencer and what he is pulling." He said just as his own phone rang. Showing the name to the younger man, Mac answered the Mayor's call. "Yes sir, I will be right there."

The entire afternoon was spent by the various people playing phone tag and just missing each other. Dante was frustrated that the Jack's case was keeping him busy, Mac had to deal with an uptight Mayor then an attempted bank robbery by a couple of teenagers for the heck of it.

Claudia however had found the town's biggest gossip and the Spencer woman to get the goods on Georgie Jones. From one, the girl was a saint, from the other, little more than welfare mom. Looking at the two sources, the Italian knew which one she believed as she drove over to the Jones house with the intent of having a face to face with the woman.

Georgie was slightly tired when she pulled out of the driveway for the Morgan house and turned toward home, hoping that maybe, just maybe she could get Antonio to curl up and take a nap with her. Driving carefully since she was feeling a bit off, Georgie pulled into her garage about fifteen minutes later, turned off the engine and tried to get up the energy to get out of the car.

She missed seeing the woman ducking under the garage doors while she turned the car off and the garage door clanged down letting her know it had closed.

"Miss Jones, we need to talk." Said the dark haired woman standing next to the car. Noticing that the door was unlocked, she yanked it open just as the brunette in the seat leaned out and threw up. "Damn it, those are five hundred dollar shoes."

"Uh oh, you said a bad word." Said the little boy in back pointing his finger at her. "You need a time out."

Georgie would have laughed, but she had no strength, hearing more footsteps, she saw Matt entering from the kitchen. "Georgie, where have you been, everyone is looking for you."

Taking a look at his sister, he bent down, next to the rather odorous mess on the cement, held her wrist and then looking at the tall brunette wearing what was clearly a designer suit and said "Get Antonio from the back seat and bring him in the house."

Lifting his sister out of the car, he was caught by the seat belt, then unlatching it, lifted her yet again as he hurried inside and up the stairs. Laying her down on her bed for a moment, he said "You look like hell, what is going on?"

"Nothing, I just felt tired after swimming in the pool at the Morgans." She announced then suddenly started to cough and grab at her stomach. "Matt, I feel like… I am going to throw up."

Getting her to the bathroom in time, he saw she had gotten it on her clothes and said "Here, we need to get you out of those clothes."

"Maybe she should take care of her kid first, then spend time in the shower." Snarled the woman in the doorway from where she was holding her arm in a familiar looking pose to the doctor who then looked down at the unrepentant three year old. "Antonio, why don't you show the nice lady your play room."

"Why don't you stop what you are doing, I need to talk to her. Clearly it grows more important by the moment." Claudia had seen the green tinge on Georgie Jones face, had felt worried until the little hellion next to her had smiled at her then taken what had to have been a good chunk of her skin and flesh off.

"Matt, go help Antonio, check to make sure he isn't sick." Said the brunette struggling to stand. "I think I have food poisoning. We went to the diner this morning and I should have known better. Luke was in the kitchen cooking."

"I will get you something for it, you, don't harass my sister." He warned Claudia while picking up his nephew who just stuck his tongue out at the woman who had tried to take his car away as he got out of the big peoples car. "Antonio, I think we need to have another talk."

The three year old pouted as his uncle carried him away, unaware that the woman who had shouted so loudly in pain was his aunt. "Now, what do you need?"

Georgie looked at the woman and said "Who are you and why are you at my house?"

"I am the sister of your son's father. Don't bother denying it, I know all about it. You were in Italy for college; my brother was in Italy dealing with the loss of our mother. Somehow at some point the two of you connected. He came home, was tail spinning to the point he deliberately seduced one of the older woman we deal with, then dumped her rather harshly after what amounted to little more than a one night stand. I think that was a response to you."

"Oh god, I told him to leave me alone, so what, he sends you to do his bidding. You tell that lying, uncaring jerk to stay away from me until I find a way to not want to kill him the moment I see him, then I will talk to him. Now get out of my house." Claudia watched as the girl dug deep, gaining control it seemed as she ordered her out.

It would have been a spectacular moment, even Claudia agreed if Georgie hadn't suddenly leaned down and tossed what little was left on her stomach into the toilet. Clasping her hands together as she tried to control her instincts to toss her own cookies, the Italian woman said "My brother doesn't know I am here, I gather you two talked, you told him about Antonio, that must be why he went to see our father today."

"No, he doesn't know about my son. He didn't want to know a thing about my child, about me after he got what he wanted from me in Italy." She tossed out like a hand grenade. "He lied to me, pretended to be someone he wasn't, hell he even had a sleazy hideaway and a landlord to cover for him."

"Actually the landlord, that was my fault." Said Claudia regretfully as she looked at the young woman. "I have a standard set up for when we check out a purchase under cover, our people followed it, but then I had no idea none that there was a possibility of you."

"A possibility of me? What on earth are you talking about?" asked Georgie while she gripped her stomach. Claudia winced when Georgie made a gagging sound, then leaned down yet again. When she managed to half stand, she saw the bottle of water being handed to her and said "What else do you have in that purse? Maybe a gun, I think killing Luke Spencer must be justifiable homicide."

"No, no gun." She said then watched as the girl leaned against the bathtub and looked at her. "I know you by reputation, from your mother, from Diane Miller, from Morgan and his wife. I had no idea that all this time… that all this time you were the one I have been looking for."

"What do you mean?" asked Georgie who then said "And you had better explain what you meant by that earlier remark."

"How about this, I tell you what I know, then I call my brother and you two talk." She said then asked "Do you need help getting undressed?"

"No, I have been quite capable of doing so since I was five." She said sarcastically then waited for the woman to leave. "Would you please leave?"

"No, see I am afraid you are going to hit your head and now that I have finally found you, I won't let you go." Said Claudia who saw the other girl starting to make a comment and swiftly added. "For my brother, you have no idea, none how glad I found you before he did something he can't take back."

"Get out, I am not undressing in front of you." Said Georgie shocked at the woman's totally ignoring her.

"No, you were fine with your brother being in here. You are stuck with me, instead." She replied even as she moved over to lean against the wall. Looking around the mid sized bathroom, Claudia saw the magazine and picked it up and started to scan through it.

"Matt is a doctor and my brother." She pointed out thinking that she wished she were well enough to make Claudia leave.

"I am not leaving, that little hellion might take another bite out of me." She said rather belligerently for a woman her age as she tossed down the glossy magazine, crossed her arms and glared at Georgie. "Why haven't you been teaching him manners?"

Georgie saw her eyes, then decided at that point she really didn't give a damn as she started to slip out of her clothes and defended her son. "He has manners, the problem is that my best friend taught Antonio to bite anyone he doesn't know who tries to grab him or his friends."

Georgie slipped into the shower and turned on the water, shivering at how cold it was to start off as she soaped up, strangely not bothered by the other woman who was now laughing.

Claudia was about to question the woman only to frown when the brother entered the room and handed Claudia a bottle of thick pink goo.

"Georgie, I left the bottle with well, whoever she is." He called out then said "I called around, Mercy has three patients with food poisoning in the ER, all ate breakfast at Kelly's."

"Luke Spencer is a menace." Georgie complained then frowned as she turned off the water, recalling that Lulu was engaged to Claudia's brother.

Tossing the towel over the glass, Claudia heard the thump as it hit Georgie then said "It's a shame that he can't handle it, since he is going to lose that boat of his. My guess is that he is going to find out what betraying my brother costs."

"I gather you figured out that the city is already planning on revoking the clause that grandfathered in his gambling license. I was a bit surprised you were buying into the Haunted Star without it, until I overheard Laura talking about Johnny marrying Lulu and how he wants to take care of his in laws, it's one of the reasons, I haven't talk to him about Antonio yet. I hated the idea of ruining his wedding, knowing how much he loves Lulu."

Claudia looked at the girl then said "Wait, no, what are you talking about. The ONLY REASON my brother is marrying that vapid waste of space is the license, hell he can't get her name straight. If I had a dime for every single time I have had to remind him her name was Lulu, I would have enough to buy my dream car."

"I can't imagine that cost is too much of a problem for you." She said doubtfully even as she ignored the rest. All of Port Charles knew of the great love that John Zachara had for Lulu, they had certainly heard about it enough, how they were a dream couple, having a dream wedding.

Claudia felt the steam hit as Georgie came out of the shower mummified in a large towel. Within minutes the younger girl was dressed and feeling a bit more capable of handling a conversation. "Now, tell me about my brother and you."

"No, that is between John and I." said Georgie. "I will tell you that if you want to check on the other, look at city ordinance 15-48597 2011. Now if you will excuse me, I have to get ready for dinner with my family."

"You are going no where until we get this cleared up." Said Claudia even as she pulled out her phone. Calling John's, she left a message for him to call her back, before going to make a few calls of her own. Within minutes, she hung up, then looked at Georgie. "My brother is on his way over here. According to my father, my brother isn't completely clueless regarding his son."

Georgie frowned, not liking the way she had said that. She found she wasn't too happy with the idea of John claiming Antonio, not until they had cleared the air.

Downstairs, Matt heard the sound of someone knocking and opened the door. Seeing the man who he had to admit was clearly his nephew's father, Matt felt the need to make sure he got to know his son, in ALL of his glory. "Good, about damn time you showed up. One floor up, the door on the right."

John look at him, then saw the man pointing at the stairs before walking out the door, Not sure what the heck is going on, he followed the directions, wondering why his father had called to verify he had gone to talk to the woman they had discussed earlier that day.

The door was closed as he went to open it, John looked around, shocked at the simple furniture, the blue and greens and even more so by the little boy with the dark brown eyes staring at him. "Who are you?"

"I-I-I, uh, I, I'm-" John was stuttering as he looked at his son, his heart racing, his skin clammy and his knees feeling like they were knocking. "W-where is your Mommy?"

"Mommy not here." he said frowning at the man.

When John saw the small little hand curled around the toy car, "Why don't we find your Mommy okay?"

"Not allowed to." Antonio had been told by his Uncle Matt to stay in his room until his Mommy came for him, that he was in trouble for biting, that he was only to bite when a stranger tried to make him go with them.

"I think it would be fine, why don't you show me her room, okay?" asked John as best he could, unsure how to deal with anyone this little. Reaching down, his hand covered the little boy's.

"No." said Antonio as he reached out for his other car. "Go away."

"I need to find your Mommy. Why don't you help me, okay?" With that, John lifted the little boy like he had seen Morgan do with his son. Antonio stiffened his body, then looked at the man.

"Put me down."

"After we find your Mommy." he replied then felt the sharp teeth sinking into his neck. "Stop that!"

The pain was now excruciating as Antonio became really scared. Usually when he bit someone, they let him go. This man wasn't. Lifting his foot, he kicked the man in the stomach, still not letting go with his teeth as he reached up and yanked on his hair.

Down the hall, Georgie heard the shouting, and tossing aside the socks she was pulling on, rushed towards her son's room. Stopping in the doorway, shocked at what she saw as John had their son's head in his hands keeping it away from him, while bending over, clearly trying to protect himself.

"MOMMY!" shouted the little boy as he burst into tears. John let his son go, shocked when he ran to his mommy and said that the strange man had tried to grab him.

"No, that isn't what happened." he protested trying to explain only for Georgie to glare and his sister who was there for some reason to suddenly laugh then show him her arm that had a band aid on it.

Georgie calmed down her son, then looked up at John who looked a little worse for the wear. Claudia had intended to stay, but the looks between the two of them made her realize that John and Georgie needed to deal with this alone. She only hoped that John didn't lose them due to his fear of being loved. Looking first at Georgie, she asked "Are you okay for this?"

Georgie could only nod as she rubbed Antonio's back. "Mommy needs to talk to t his man, why don't you take a few cars downstairs and play with your track, okay?"

Glaring at the man, the little boy picked up several cars then making a wide arc around John, rushed down to play. "What on earth were you thinking, John?"

The Italian looked at Georgie, her hair was pulled back but clearly damp, her skin was a little green and she was clearly not well. He wavered between wanting to take care of her and wanting answers to his questions but what came out instead shocked him. "Why didn't you tell me about our son?"

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

There was silence as they looked at one another. John looked at Georgie, then at his hands as he said "I am sorry that I didn't tell you the truth from the beginning. Dammit, Georgie, do you think this is easy for me. I hate that you did this all alone. I hate that I let you down. That I let our son down."

Georgie didn't know what to say, she wanted to tell him that everything was going to be okay, but it wasn't going to be okay. There was an innocent boy who had lost time, time he should have had with his father, with his clearly outrageous family. But he had lost that because of one simple lie.

Looking at John who she could see was clearly upset but wondering the exact cause of WHY he was upset, she said "What is wrong with you. One minute you are accusing me, then you are apologizing. I just don't know what to say to you. You were the one who LEFT me. What was I supposed to say when you FINALLY told me the truth. Oh, by the way you have a son. Considering you knew we had unprotected sex the first time, maybe that is something that should have occurred to you sooner."

The silence returned, both unsure what to say, both wanting to tell the other that they wanted more, wanted a life but there were too many mistakes in the past, too large of a gap between their lives for this to be easy. Both knew that there was going to be shouting, Georgie more scared of the unknown than of the hurt.

John out of fear of what he knew he was going to learn. He knew deep down that his life was about to change, but some part of him, some part of him knew that it had already changed when he had lived in Italy, but that he had ran before getting the news.

Another part of him, the part that had decided to never love another person, was sinking into the abyss, he had a child, someone who he was already feeling love for, with the woman he had finally accepted he would never see again. It was why he had decided that the Spencer girl was perfect for his future, now that was shattered and standing in front of him was the one woman, the one woman who had the ability to break through his shell.

"John, I just... I just don't know what to say to you, where to start." she said quietly. "My life was plodding along rather nicely, I am now a lawyer, I have a... a son. A beautiful little boy I have had pretty much all to myself, now, you show up."

"Our son? Please can you just once say it, our son." he asked more than stated, needing to hear her say the words. Sticking his hands in his pockets, John looked around the cozy bedroom. His eyes went to the toys, the tidy little bed, then at the picture on the bed side table. Georgie and their son, at what looked like some playground.

"Georgie, we have to talk about him, about Antonio." he said his eyes avoiding hers. He was a father, but he had no idea, none about how to be a father. His time spent in this room already proved that. His own father had said that you just knew, that there was no set solution to handle every situation, there was no one to be there at every single moment but a child's parents.

That no one, _no one_ was perfect as a parent. His eyes met Georgie's saw her indecision and some part of him, some part deep inside wanted her to tell him that he wasn't the father no matter how badly it would hurt. That he was wrong, because if he was right, that made him a cad, and a man who hadn't lived up to his responsibilities. His voice cracked as he harshly blurted out. "Please, just tell me the truth."

Georgie felt her hands trembling as she looked at him and then whispered "How? How do I do that?"

When the tears started, John went to comfort her, never seeing the eyes of the little boy who had come up the stairs to where his mother was. Looking at the man who was patting his mommy on the back, he glared and said "Who are you?"

Georgie froze, then wiped the tears away. "Come to mommy."

Glaring at John, Antonio was advancing and Georgie intervened not wanting his first meeting with his son to include John being bit twice. "Sweetie, this is John, a fr-friend of mine."

John's eyes narrowed as he looked between Georgie and the little boy who was clearly his son and then thought about how she had introduced him. "John, this is Antonio, my son."

"Hi." John found he couldn't find any other word to say as the little boy looked at him then said to his mommy. Some part of him was hurt that she didn't tell their son that he was his father, the other part could hear his father warning him that it might take time.

"Mommy, can I go play now?" When she nodded, John watched as the little boy looked at him, then rushed off.

Georgie had seen the similarity when her little boy had been held by John earlier, she had gasped, the startling resemblance between her son and his father. As she came to accept that there was no doubt the man in front of her was the man who she had fallen in love with, the man who had broken her heart.

To deal with him, she would have to put all that behind her. John was engaged to be married, he was now in love with another woman. A woman she couldn't stand, but she was going to have to work this out, because her son deserved to know his father.

His mind racing as he began to finally make plans, the plans he had known he would need but some part of him, the part that had felt numb for so long, now, he had a child, a little boy who needed him.

There were a thousand questions going through his head, questions that an hour before he would have never dreamed of asking. The phone rang and it was clear Georgie didn't want to answer but did. "Maxie, what is it?"

Walking down the stairs, John saw his son playing with toy cars in the living room. "Hi, can I play too?"

Seeing his son look him over, then hand him two of his very varied selection, John sat down and asked "Which are your favorites?"

When his son held up a toy version of a Bugatti Veyron, then a Ford pickup truck, he looked at the two in his hand, both were American muscle cars. As they quietly played, John looked at his boy, his son and felt his heart twist.

Within a few minutes, Antonio looked at the man and said "Where is my mommy?"

"Here, mommy is here." said Georgie as she wiped the tears she had falling as she watched her little boy play with his daddy. "Aunt Maxie is coming over to pick you up so that you can go play with Emma, how does that sound?"

"Okay." he said then went to grab his favorites then picked up the rest with John's help. When the petite blond knocked, Georgie thanked her and said she would explain later while John sat down on the sofa watching as the little boy happily greeted the blond then asked if he could play with her phone. Maxie just handed it to him then took his hand as she escorted him to her car..

The door closed when they heard the car pull away and Georgie looked at the man in front of her, she started to talk, but instead she grabbed her stomach and rushed off to the small bathroom to expel whatever was still in her stomach. "Georgie?"

John entered the tiny room, saw Georgie on her knees and knelt down next to her. "What is wrong?"

"Food poisoning." was all she said, not wanting to explain about Luke Spencer YET again. John lifted her when she was done and helped her walk up the stairs. Lying her down, John ran his hands through her hair then handed her the water bottle that was already sitting on the stand.

Taking out his phone, John quickly googled food poisoning, then said "We can talk later, just sleep, Georgie."

Wanting to argue but too sick to bother, Georgie was almost asleep when he asked if she wanted a cup of tea with some lemon. Nodding no, she wished she had the energy to tell him to leave, she was out of it when he stood and walked over to the window.

Making a few calls to get some food delivered, then sighing called back. "Send something a three year old would eat, too. Dad, my son hates me."

"He's three, John. How much damage could you have done in five minutes? Your sister said that the little boy was the one in control of your first meeting." said the older man on the phone. John looked at his neck in the reflection, then went to Georgie's bathroom looking in the mirror. Seeing the bite on his neck, he found himself laughing when he saw the tiny teeth marks.

"He bit me." he reported and the older man on the other end was reminded of John as a little boy and told him so, that he used to like to kick people. "Oh, he did that too."

Getting what happened, Anthony said "You're right, you are in over your head. John, remember stranger danger? You run million dollar business deals on a regular basis, yet you can't find a way to get close to your son, you can't find a way to tell one woman about the past. Do you even know the date your son was born? Have you even asked Georgie?"

Matt quietly let himself in the side door, wanting to check on Georgie after what Maxie had told him but not wanting to interrupt if she was in the middle of something with John. What he heard next, had him debating on what to do.

"I don't think I need to." he said grimacing but kind of proud of himself for figuring it out. "Unless I am wrong on something else, my guess November 27, a Monday at about noon. I think my phantom illness was connected. Remember, the day I ended up in the hospital with the stalker girl as my doctor."

Suddenly not so proud as John recalled sleeping with the woman out of relief that no, he didn't seem to be dying. He had been having sex while Georgie had... been giving birth. Feeling a bit sick, John felt his throat closing up as he told his dad he had to go.

Matt left, not sure what was going on, but knowing that his staying would only create yet another reason for them to not talk. Settling the bag of crackers and seven up on the counter, he left, heading to his father's knowing that they might be having to deal with the Spencers before long.

John meanwhile stood in the doorway of Georgie's bedroom, the woman inside fast asleep as he thought about the last four years. Backing out, he wandered the house, seeing Antonio's room, then the guest room. Knowing that her brother had been the main man in their son's life, made the sick feeling worse.

The study that was obviously full of all of Georgie's text books and her growing accumulation of law books. The photos on the wall of her family, the last row and a half containing pictures of her pregnant, she had looked so beautiful, of their son in a white dress being held by Morgan's wife and a blond man he didn't know.

With what looked like cake all over him, Georgie with her sister in front of her store. John reached out and touched the last one some part of his heart clenching when he saw the man holding Georgie around the waist as they smiled for the camera in formal clothes. "Who are you? Does she love you? Did you two sleep together?"

Jealous and not liking it, John tried to put it off as being concerned about their son, but he knew that it was really that Georgie had been telling the truth, she had moved on and he had been a rather unpleasant memory.

When he felt the lump on his throat, he put if off as the bite from Antonio and went to the kitchen and got some ice. Finding a ziploc bag, he held it against his neck then made the call some part of him had wanted to since he had seen Georgie again. "Tomorrow morning."

Now thinking on his own past for the last few years, his imagination ran riot with the idea of Georgie and knowing he had no right to feel like that, but still not able to deal with the idea of her doing with other men the things they had done together, John threw the ice at the sink, sat down and finally let the emotions overwhelm him.

His head was buried in his hand when he heard the knock on the backdoor, he let in the man who brought over the food, then opened the bag on the counter. Putting the groceries away and the food in the oven, John walked back to the living room, feeling caged as he knew he couldn't do the one thing he wanted until he had dealt with the Spencers.

"John, what are you still doing here?" asked Georgie as she came down the stairs two hours later.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked, his eyes not meeting hers, knowing that he had to correct his mistakes before this went any further."

"I am fine. I know better than to eat anything Luke cooks, I just wasn't thinking. You can head out now or we can talk." she said tersely. When he didn't get up to leave, she said "Fine, but don't say I didn't offer you a chance out of this."

"I was sick at the beginning of April, tired, but just put it down to missing you. Then I started throwing up not much later, missed my period so I went to the doctor, hoping against hope I was wrong." Georgie was back in Italy, that scared and heartbroken young woman.

"I found out I was pregnant two months after you left. I went to your job, wait, it wasn't your job, was it?" John saw the scathing expression on her face as she continued 'I drove over to your apartment. The landlord seemed about to tell me something but his wife stopped him. Your sister explained about your not being found was partly her fault."

"I came home, told my family about how I was about to become a single parent. They rallied around me, never once judging me, never once blaming me for what happened in spite of it being half my fault. I had a remarkably easy pregnancy, gave birth to my son and made a life for us. I won't apologize, I tried to find you." Georgie spit out like it was her grocery list, part of her wanted to tell him how alone she had felt, how terrified, but he didn't deserve to know her innermost thoughts and feelings, he had left her, not the other way around but he seemed to forget that.

"I am sorry, I just never thought that this was a possibility in spite of our not using a condom." he said holding out his hands then looked at her. "I know that I am mostly at fault for what happened. I just want to know, why did you introduce me as a friend, why not tell Antonio the truth?"

"Do you have any idea how much of a mess that could cause?" Screaming inside her head at him, she calmly said out loud "I didn't know what you wanted. John you are engaged to a girl that has been my sister and my biggest rival in school. Her mother hates us, because her father hit on our biological mother and it is never Luke's fault. Where and how do we go forward from here."

"Luna won't be a problem." he said firmly. Georgie's lips twitched at the name, Claudia had been right about that one. He truly couldn't get Lulu's name right. "I want to tell him, I want him to know I am his father."

Seeing red yet again and knowing she had to make her position clear, she retorted "Too bad this isn't about what you want, or what I want. John, he is three, he needs to be comfortable around you before we throw this at him. I know him better than you do, you need to let me take the lead."

"No." he said then took a step back as he noticed his anger rising irrationally. "I am sorry, let me explain. Georgie, the press, when they find out, this is going to create a furor. We can't hide this."

"I don't want to, I just want to give our son a chance..." Georgie then sat down, she found herself thinking about what she had said, our son, their son, John's son, her son. He was all those things. "John what do you see happening here? What do you think is going to happen? That us and you along with Lulu Spencer are going to have some sort of happy blended family? Seriously have you even thought that far in advance?"

"I don't understand what you mean." he said to her even as his mind knew exactly where this was going. Marriage, a family, a future with Georgie but first he had to get rid of the mess with the Spencer family. "To me its fairly simple. We are his parents, we work together as a unit."

"When, where are you planning on announcing this. There is going to be fallout, I don't want Antonio exposed to it." she said helplessly. "We then have to set up visiting days, when you want to be with him. Set up rules of what we are both comfortable with the other doing as parents."

"The when is immediately after I leave here." he said then continued ignoring the later stuff, for him it was simple. They were parents of a child together that meant they got married and created a family. "I think that for now, you might need to head out to Crimson Point when the news get out, just for now."

John wanted to press his plans but he could see that Georgie would resist, after all she had no idea, none that he didn't plan on losing her nor their son. "Georgie, I have to deal with the Spencer, to end this disaster with them."

"I am going to go and get Antonio, you do with what you have to do, then there are a few people I have to see if we are going to be gone for a while. A couple of dates to cancel before we leave." she said then stood, glad that they were on the same page when it came to their son. They would co-parent, they would be able to work past their mistakes.

John stopped her his mind going to her having a lover, a man she had to see, then asked the one question he shouldn't have. "The men, the men who have been in your life, what does our son know about them. I mean, have they spent the night with our son here. Whoever he is, he CAN'T COME to Crimson Point, I don't share what belongs to me."

"Excuse me?" she asked her stillness should have been a warning to him that he was screwing up but all John saw was green at the idea of Georgie loving someone else. "Would you please explain EXACTLY what you are trying to hint around about."

"Men, I don't think it is a good idea for you to have other men around our son now that I am here." he said. "It's not really appropriate anyhow, now that you are a mother. I would think that you wouldn't have the time, but from now on, other men, they no longer are an option."

Georgie looked at him, then gave a short laugh. "John, how many women have been in your life since Italy, ball park figure?"

"Why?" he asked.

"Just answer the question." Rubbing the back of his neck he said "About eight. None of them more than a couple of times."

"You are a complete and total jackass. You have been since you showed up here in Port Charles. If I want to date the entire list of eligible men in Port Charles it is none of your damn business. You left me, remember? You were the one playing games, who was thoughtless. I am the one who was a single parent, the one holding our son when he was sick, when he teethed, when he took his first step, when..." Georgie's hands were shaking as hundred of thoughts came to her mind.

"Where were you? Where were you when I gave birth?"

Sickened at what his own mind had pointed out earlier, John looked down, "No answer, yeah sounds about right for you. John, we are simply too different. This is about our son, not you, not me. And as for the men in my life, you have no right, none to even ask. Especially not while you are engaged to another woman. How about this, have you had sex with Lulu?"

"Uh, once." he stated thinking on the night he had agreed to marry her and the quickie sex afterwords. He saw the look on Georgie's face and said "I just hate this, I hate that we lost so much, that we could have had something wonderful but instead we are reduced to clawing and fighting for whatever we end up with."

Georgie looked at him with not one ounce of sympathy as she asked "Whose fault is that? Excuse me, I have to go and pick up my son. I would prefer if you weren't here when we got back. John, we are co parents, nothing more. The moment I woke up alone after giving birth was the moment I put the idea, the ideal of you away. You need to accept that because there is no going back."

Georgie returned home and after putting her son to bed, found herself admitting out loud that she was still attracted to the rat bastard, that her body still wanted the man who had broken her heart.

John made the call to Lulu, asking her to meet him at the Haunted Star tonight instead of the next day before calling her family. When they arrived, John looked around the room. From the clearly enigmatic expression on Luke's face to the clearly excited face of Laura Spencer. Then there was Lucky, the screw up and the half brother who looked around, getting the feeling he was missing something.

When Lulu joined them, he saw the slight frown and smirked before turning around. "Our deal is over. I have made a small deposit into your account Lulu, for all the trouble you have gone to but clearly this marriage was a bad idea."

Lulu took a deep breath, planning on telling everyone the truth when her father stood and with a now flushed face said "You can't do that, we have a deal. Without my license, you have no chance of..."

"He had no chance anyhow, does he?" asked Mac Scorpio as he came into the room. Looking at John, he said "I gather you learned about the city council revoked their license."

John looked at Spencer senior as the entire family squawked at one another then attacked the police officer. "No, I wasn't aware of that. I was ending my engagement because I no longer wish to marry Lulu. Not that I ever really wanted to marry her in the first place, I just decided she would do."

"Good, because I never wanted to marry you either." retorted the blond. "I am already married and my family pushed me into this. You and your attitudes about women are the last man I would ever want to marry."

There was shock as the Spencers looked at her. Lulu flushed and said "When I came to New York, I had just ended my relationship with a man I knew in Texas. It was why I let you talk me into marrying him. But I don't LOVE HIM, HE does nothing for me. I want my life back, my life in Texas. I came because you were in trouble, yet again. It was why I fled in the first place, you get in trouble and then take the easiest way out, no matter who it hurts."

"W-wow." John looked at her then pulled her out of the room, needing to find out what was going on. "Start talking. Why didn't you tell me this from the beginning. We could have put an end to your family's manipulations."

Lulu started to cry and said "I love him but my family is going to hate him. When we ended because I was too scared to tell them the truth, I thought why not. You are rich, you're nice looking, but then you just used me, like a whore. You just walked away, got rid of the condom and told me I could go. But like Mom said, you were rich, very very rich so I thought I could deal with it for now."

Not denying his less then gentlemanly treatment of her, instead he admitted to her what had been going on. "I am in love with another woman. I thought I had lost her and decided that marrying you would work. I would gain the license, a couple of kids, then I would pay you off."

Lulu shuddered then said "I don't want kids, I never did. I lied when I said I did. They ruin your figure and you have to stay in one place, I want more than that out of my life. Still, what happened, it was so cold, so mechanical. I didn't enjoy it. I felt like you could have been there with anyone." Lulu didn't know how to say what she was thinking about the day they had had sex. "I felt like you were using me."

"I was, for the last few years, sex was a release, nothing more." he said bluntly. When she looked up, her eyes snapping with anger, he said "Hey, you were marrying me for my money. To me, it was sex."

Lulu glared then said "I am out of here. Take your money and shove it. You made me feel like a whore. A gold digger, and you have done so repeatedly even without ever having sex again."

John started to say she was one, but just let it go and went to deal with the family he had almost married into. "Lulu left, we are done. Laura, I took care of all the outstanding bills, don't try padding anything."

Standing, she looked at Luke, then around at the vibrant reds and golds of the casino, then at her husband. She couldn't believe this was happening, they were about to lose everything and Lulu, Lulu had married some unknown man and had walked away from her family from a rich husband for what? "We are going to sue you for breach of promise."

"Good luck with that." he scoffed. "I have two of the best attorneys in the country and you tried to lie to me. Spencer, I have no intention of bailing you out."

Mac walked with the younger man out the door then looked back into the room. Hiding his smile as they walked down the gangplank to where Lulu was in the arms of a blond man. He didn't like the younger girl but knew that who she was was the result of her family. "Lulu, it might be a good idea to head out of town."

"We have tickets on the midnight bus." said Logan who then nodded at the man who he had a sudden urge to slug for the way he had treated his wife. "John, Lulu didn't mean to put you in the middle of our mess. When she came back to Texas, we got married, I wouldn't have let this go too much further, but you hurt her, emotionally."

"Get on your bus." was all he said before getting behind the wheel of his car, Watching as they left, he shook his head then waited. When Lucky came off the boat, he watched as the younger man went to the strip club and took home one of the girls.

Turns out that Coleman was right, Lucky Spencer was actually living with a stripper. His other son Ethan was more than likely fleeing town. He owed the local loan sharks, John debated what to do with Spencer and his wife, knowing that if anyone was going to create problems for Georgie and him it was going to be those two.

Driving back to Georgie's, he was going to just check on them and leave but looking in the window, he saw that the living room was clear of toys and knew that more than likely meant Antonio was in bed. Seeing that it was almost ten, he was about to leave the porch when he heard the door open. "What do you want?"

Wanting to tell her her, but knowing not to, he simply said "I was just checking to see if you two made it home okay. Did you find the dinner?"

"Yes." she replied crossing her arms in a defensive posture as she looked him over. "You can go now."

"I uh, my dad is curious about meeting Antonio, more like only being held back from coming here by Claudia." he stated. "He might show up, you should know."

"I will deal with it when it happens." she replied. "John, can you give me a couple of weeks to deal with this, to help Antonio deal with this, before it ends up being public knowledge."

"Georgie, I have no control over the press, over the Spencer family." he said then saw her expression didn't change so he left, driving home, needing to figure out what to do with the half built casino and more importantly how to fix the chasm that was between Georgie and him. At the house, he just left his car in the circular drive as he went to find his family.

Claudia laughed when she saw his bit mark, the ripped off the band aid. "Sharp little teeth that one has."

Nodding ruefully John said "He is pretty strong as well. You were lucky he wasn't kicking you and pulling your hair."

"Tell me about your son and his mother." said the man entering the room with a photo album. It was late into the night as John finally found the strength to tell his small but growing family about how he had felt when he had fled home. About arriving in Italy about meeting Georgie just before Halloween, about falling in love. "I knew I was a mess, but it happened anyhow."

"Love tends to be like that. It rarely happens on our schedule." he told his son. Looking at his daughter he said "Why the cloak and dagger regarding the apartments?"

Flushing she said "When I was in England, I met a man, turns out later he was a spy for the Jacks Corporation. I started telling our staff to erase our presence after dealing with Mr. Craig. I was shocked the day I saw him talking to Jasper Jacks. When Jacks industries got the land we wanted, I realized that his spy had gotten all our numbers the night before when I had slept with the man."

"That's strange, Jax is normally pretty above board." said John a bit shocked to find out a business acquaintance had been so underhanded. "As for the Spencers, how do we handle them?"

"I say we let them fail on their own. The annoying blond did leave town with her young medic, big brother is not a threat and Ethan, my guess is he goes looking for his mama." replied Claudia. "Just think no more trying reminding you her name was Lulu."

"Georgie wants me to give her time, I agreed but everything inside of me is saying that that is the wrong thing to do." John confessed. "How do I fix this? I screwed up, badly. Then I keep making things worse. What if she is in love with someone else. There is a picture of a blond man, holding our son on father's day. I HATE that, I hate that another man is in their lives."

"John you might have to accept that for at least a while." Anthony told his son. "You are going to have to win her heart back, but you are also going to have to face that maybe she is in love with this man you are talking about, and if she is, you need to accept that."

Standing, walking to the window, looking out at his mother's rose garden, he pressed his forehead against the cool glass and said "I know that, but I think it will kill me. Dad, I kept going back to Verona looking for her. Georgie talked at the time about staying in Italy after she graduated, I had no idea, none that she was fifteen miles away from here, raising our son. Moving on without me."

"John, you were moving on too. You were marrying Lulu Spencer." pointed out his father a bit annoyed at the way his son was reacting as if Georgie betrayed him by not waiting for him.

"I know, but to me it wasn't the same thing. I didn't care one iota about Lulu, it was simply a good business decision. For someone like Georgie, who sees the world through her emotions, she believes I love Lulu. I don't, I don't even like her, have no respect for her. Yet, I can't tell Georgie the truth, she will be upset." John turned and saw that Claudia had fallen asleep.

Waking her, he walked his sister up to bed, then went to the room he kept on the estate. Inside, he opened his safe and pulled out the well worn jewelers box and popped it open. Inside was a bracelet, exquisitely carved etchings with minor stones in it. Wondering what happened to the cheap imitation that he had felt was the only thing that his alter ego could afford, John had an idea of how to prove Georgie that he was not leaving.

A few days later, Georgie heard the shouts and glass breaking in the lobby of the hotel as she went to see her sister. "What is going on there?"

"Luke came to see Carly, asked for a loan. She refused and my guess is what you are hearing is either Lucky or Laura coming to let her know that they don't appreciate her not letting them use her as a bank." said a smirking Maxie as she fingered the flowers in front of her.

"John knows about the addendum to the law, my guess is that he ended things." she said frowning as she looked at her sister's preoccupation with the very beautiful flowers in front of her. "Maxie, is there something you want to share? Maybe about the flowers you seem so enamored of."

Her head coming away from where she was sniffing the very lovely large pink peonies, Maxie tried to laugh it off, then said "No, there is nothing to share. The flowers where a thanks from Jax for finding yet another designer original for his current high maintenance mistress."

"Didn't he send you flowers a couple weeks ago?" she asked suspiciously. "Is there something going on with the two of you?"

"Jax, no, come on, Georgie. You know that there is a huge age gap between us. Jax just send them, flirts because he knows that it makes me feel better about things." she pointed out. Both sisters knew that Maxie's love life when she moved back to Port Charles from New York City was non existent. She found it hard to trust after what had happened with Kyle.

"Are you sure?" she asked, a bit worried that Maxie might develop feelings for the handsome and dashing older blond. "I worry about you sometimes."

"Yes, I am sure. Georgie, at some point, there will be a man I find I can trust, but it is still hard even though it was almost seven years ago." she said then added. "I thought I had dealt with it, but then there was Lucky Spencer and his stupid idea that we should date."

"I am glad you saw through him." said Georgie. "Okay, I will let the Jax thing go, as long as you agree to go out on a date. One date and I pick the guy."

"Not Dante." said the blond insistently. When she saw Georgie's expression, Maxie said "It is just too weird. I uh, we went out on a date, when I first moved to New York. We ran into his ex-girlfriend and Dillon's niece Brooklynn. It was too odd that he was already connected."

"Maxie he says he never saw the video, I believe him." she said gently. "You have to at some point accept that Dante is a nice guy. An honest guy. Or do you intend to be like that woman who edits your favorite magazine. Didn't she wait for relationships, then end up with a man who was in love with her cousin. I thought you told me that he stood her up on her wedding day in front of five hundred guests."

"I get what you are saying, but I assure you, I am no Kate Howard. And if that ever happened to me, first I would have Alexis and you sue the bastard then I would get a gun and shoot the man right where it would hurt the worst."

"And I wonder where my son gets his violent tendencies from." said Georgie laughing. "John's sister stopped over last night.. He isn't happy about it, but is giving me my week without him around. I have been mentioning him to Antonio. It's hard, I hate that I have to share him, how is that for sick and sad."

"You have been a single parent all this time, so yeah, I could get why it would bother you. How about his dad, I know you were wondering if he would come over." asked Maxie as she set up her newest mannikin. Growling when the outfit didn't look right, she said "I wish that Elizabeth had some time to stop over. This needs some serious work."

Claudia who had seen Georgie entering the shop, had been waiting for almost an hour while watching the Spencer sense of self involvement show with her old classmate Skye Chandler Quartermaine finally entered the shop in time to hear the other woman's comment. "Your right, what did you do to that outfit?"

"Maxie, this is Claudia, John's sister. Claudia this is my sister, Maxie." she stated then asked if she had enjoyed the show. Grinning the Italian woman walked over, moved the draping on the dress, then thought about how Carly Alcazar had tossed her aunt by marriage out of the hotel.

"Yes, I did. I do have to ask, is it true that Carly's uncle told her mother that she died, then gave her up for adoption?" she said tsk tsking as she finally stepped back then told the owner of the shop. "The dress needs a hat, and some shoes, red ones would work."

"Yes, Bobbie found out the truth a few years ago. They both forgave Luke, but every time they turn around, the man commits ever worse sins." said Maxie while Georgie stayed out of it. She had read in the newspaper the small article about the wedding of the year being canceled then had heard from Alexis and Diane's gossiping that Laura was once again low on the ladder at the country club. That the manager had publicly reminded her that she had to still pay her monthly dues.

"There, it's done." said Claudia who then added. "I am taking your sister with me."

Before she could protest, Georgie found herself in the dining room and with a large glass of sweet iced tea. "Okay, so, how is my nephew, bit anyone lately?"

"No, and he is great. I am taking him to buy his first bike next week now that he has outgrown his tricycle so he is on his best behavior right now." she answered. "Why am I here?"

"That is a question between you and your god." she answered with a smirk. Then added. "In truth, I am waiting for your mother, or stepmother, whatever she is to call me about someone I am investigating. I want to make sure I am not breaking any laws before I make his life miserable."

"Stepmother." said Georgie with a laugh. "My biological mother just left and never returned. Dad and Alexis got married when I was about my son's age. She is the only Mom I have ever known."

"Then why do you call her by her first name?" asked the other woman. "It's a bit strange."

"The day I went to the station on my first case, I had to be professional. I was only a paralegal at the time and still hadn't passed the bar. Alexis was the DA. My boss, Diane insisted on me calling them by their more formal names or by their first names. She said it wouldn't inspire my clients with confidence if I was calling the police commissioner dad and the DA Mom."

"I can understand that." she said now laughing. "So, why a lawyer? Was it a case of monkey see, monkey do?"

"No, Diane and Mom have been friends for year and she came into my school for a debate when I was in the eighth grade. I managed to beat her in arguments, it gave me the bug and then Diane offered to let me work for her, since I couldn't for my mom." Georgie laughed then said "My first day working, Jason Morgan was arguing with his grandfather about something. Neither would back down and I just wanted to go home, Diane wasn't back from court yet. Anyhow, I was fourteen at the time and I actually got them to compromise."

"Really, that must have taken some doing, they are notorious for being on opposite spectrum of must things. What were they arguing about?"

"Since it isn't covered by attorney client privilege, I guess I can tell you." she said with a smirk. "Jason wanted no bachelor party and Edward was insisting that they were necessary. I talked them into a dinner at the hotel and no strippers."

"How did you do that?" she asked seeing the wide grin and knowing it had to be good.

"See, his brother AJ used to be engaged to Carly, they had a son together. The night before the wedding, they had the party at a strip club. AJ woke up in Vegas, married to a transvestite stripper named Courtney. All it took was mentioning that and plans were quickly quashed."

"Ouch, did you have to remind me." drawled out Carly as she walked over to the table. "Georgie, Mama says you haven't been around much."

"I have been very busy, Carly. Besides, Luke was in the kitchen again." she told the blond who shuddered. "Food poisoning is not exactly a great time."

"I am sorry about that. Was Antonio affected?" she asked sitting down with them and waving a waiter over. "A cold Coke with a cheeseburger and a large order of fries. When Michael arrives you better make that two."

Claudia asked about Lulu only to be told that she had called from Texas and apologized for some bad behavior while in town, then had asked Bobbie to send her her things, that her mother was trying to hold them hostage to get her to return and marry John. "Why is she so determined, I mean, it has to be more than the money."

"It is, Laura lost a lot of clout when she married Luke, her ex-husband was a young lawyer with a rich and well established law firm. It's like she suddenly realized the downward slide she was on. I love my momma, but she is blind to her brother, she always has been." said Carly. "It's funny, Monica and her were all over this gold digger AJ was seeing, yet, they think it is perfectly fine that Laura wanted to sell her daughter to the highest bidder."

"She didn't always used to be that way." said Georgie with a slight sigh. "A few years ago, something happened at my dad's house. It was while I was pregnant. I came home and we found her in the attic, wearing her old wedding dress and sitting in an antique rocker singing lullabies."

"Georgie, I know that you don't like Lulu but right now, she needs her friends." Carly hesitated to ask but knew that otherwise Lulu was going to cave in to her mother's demands.

"Carly, don't go there. First she set me up to look like I was cheating on Dillon, then slept with him when I insisted on us waiting. Then just because she wanted that stupid tin foil crown, she bribed Kyle with sex for him to seduce my sister on the Internet. Dislike doesn't begin to cover it." she said icily.

"She was sorry, she still regrets how far she went to make her mom happy." said Carly. "You have no idea how lucky you are with your parents."

"Carly, tell your sister that John has no intention of marrying her. He was the one who ended things, she has nothing to worry about. Hell, he was only marrying her for the license in the first place, no matter what Laura tries to say." stated Claudia who saw how uncomfortable Georgie was and added "We have to go, tell Skye I said I will call her later."

Watching them leaving, Carly couldn't help wondering about that friendship and made a call. "Hey, what do you know about Claudia Zachara being friends with Georgie Jones?"

Skye hesitated then said "I am sure it is because the law firm is working with them."

Carly doubted it, but let it go. Maybe Claudia was trying to replace Lulu with Georgie and she was all for that if it protect Lulu. Her cousin had done enough for her family. Then standing, she thought about it, about what Lulu said regarding sex with John and debated giving Georgie a heads up.

"How is my wife today?" Turning at the sound of her husband, the blond forgot all about Georgie Jones and her intentions as she dragged her husband up to one of the hotel room and spent the day in bed.

John meanwhile was almost finished settling his plan in motion. Looking around, he went to his father's estate then went to the safe. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, your mother would have been so happy." he replied as he handed John the engagement ring and it's leather case. "Good luck."

"It will be fine, we already discussed this." he replied as he left to drive over to see his future wife and son.

Georgie had finally gotten a few things done as she sat on her sofa, reading the extra copy of Diane's brief regarding Morgan enterprises plans to build a new building down by the old historic district. Hearing the sound of her doorbell, she wasn't happy when she saw John standing outside.

"What happened to giving me time?" she asked frowning when he just walked past her and into the living room.

"You had four days." he said then handed her the box. "Here, you are going to need this."

Opening it up, Georgie felt her mouth gaping as she saw the brilliant stone. Closing it, she tossed it back to him and said "No, no I don't need that. No human being on this earth, needs that."

Blinking a bit, he said "It's an engagement ring, this way the press will leave you alone when they read that we are getting married. It should be in the paper in two days."

"Wait, what are you talking about? How on earth could it be in the paper when I never agreed to marry you? When I never agreed to even be in the same house with you, let alone... John how did we go from me staying at Crimson Point with our son to this?." She was steaming as she looked at John. "We never, ever discussed getting married. We can barely be in the same room together without arguing."

"I thought about that and came up with an answer." he said smiling at her. "We are both just sexually frustrated. Once the investigator I hired said you hadn't been involved with anyone in years, I knew that this was the best way of solving all of our problems."

Crossing her arms to keep from pounding him with her tightly clasped fists, Georgie gritted her teeth and said "Solve my problems? I only have one problem and that is you. What is it going to take for you to wake up and get that I don't want to marry you, that I wish you were still in Italy."

"See, that is where you are wrong. You want me, I want you." he said as his eyes traveled down her body where her nipples reacted to his heated assessment proving her a liar when she growled and denied wanting him. "Before we go any further, is Antonio asleep?"

"John its almost ten, of course he is asleep in bed." she stated as if he was asking a stupid question. Maybe he was, he would soon get the hang of this. "John, you need to leave. You come here, mere days after ending your wedding to Lulu, making plans for us without even asking me what I want or if I think it is best for our son. Why on earth would you possibly think this is acceptable behavior."

"Simply put, I was not in love with Lulu, it was strictly a business arrangement. You, on the other hand are the woman I have never stopped thinking about, the woman who is the mother of my son and hopefully any future children we have, plus there is the very simple matter that I find you extremely attractive, I always have."

"Well, **_jolly gee, lawks a mighty and yippee kai yeah_**. Seriously are you for real?" she asked staring at him in disbelief. "I mean, John. I haven't seen you in years, you show up here, repeatedly create these scenarios in your head that have nothing to do with reality and expect me to fall in with your plans just because you say so. Well STOP, BACK UP AND WE WILL TAKE THIS ONE STEP AT A TIME."

"Georgie, there is no time for this, do you really want to deal with the full court press that is about to happen. Then there is the Spencer family. Laura Spencer is not going away and I know that she will be a threat to you and to my son. If you won't agree to at least wear the ring, then we need to head out of town for a couple of weeks."

"Weeks?" she asked weakly. She had talked to Alexis and Diane and both had agreed with the assessment but no one, but no one had said anything about weeks. She didn't know that she could handle weeks. She had spent a lot of the time they were together, angry with him, but some part of her, deep down was reminding her of how spectacular they were together.

"Weeks." he said recalling their first four months together, the very heated give and take, the very, very close calls long before they had finally given in to their attraction. He had planned this perfectly but had wanted her wearing his ring, but he would settle for just the three of them, away from everyone. Getting to know one another again and in the case of his son, spending time together, hopefully without biting being involved.

"I don't think this is such a good idea." she said weakly as he moved over to where she was standing. "John, stop invading my personal space."

Moving back inches, he asked "Is that better?"

"You know it isn't." she said, annoyed at how breathless she sounded. "Wait, what about your company, how can you be gone so long."

"Claudia can handle anything that comes up regarding business." he said his eyes boring into hers. "Any other barriers you want to attempt to put up."

"John, what about our son. He needs time." she said then groaned when he pointed out this would give them time to get to know one another. "Besides, how do we know that where you are planning on us being is age appropriate?"

"Because I got a recommendation from Jason." he said then asked. "I do have a few questions. Is there anything he doesn't like to eat or anything that makes him sick?"

"No, he is a pretty good eater, carrot sticks are always a good idea, though. He is at the stage where he feeds himself and it gets a little messy." she said. "And we need to talk about a few things. I don't want him spoiled rotten. I already have trouble reining in my family, so please if you want to buy him things, make it simple. One car, not a whole store full. One book, not the New York City library."

"Okay, I get that." he said wincing as he thought about the room he had had done up at his father's house and the one at what he hoped would be their place soon. Maybe he would have Claudia donate a few of the toys to a local hospital. "My sister mentioned something about a bike, how about I purchase that."

"I promised him he could pick it out." she warned. John just nodded, like most males he understood that, after all he wouldn't want anyone else picking out his 'wheels' for him. "We were planning on going next week."

"Since we will be gone by then, how about a quick stop in the city, we might find a better selection." he said. "We should pick up a couple of bikes so we can ride with him."

"I already have one." she said her mind recalling a bike ride in Verona that had ended with them hiding in barn to get out of the rain. How she had had her first orgasm caused by another person that day and how she had felt about him.

"Good, then we can just get them for our trip." he said then added. "Georgie, I know that I am doing this all wrong, but please cut me some slack. All of this, is new for me."

"I get that, I do. I can recall when Elizabeth Morgan came into the room when I woke up, she handed our son to me and I laid him down on my legs. I vowed then and there that I would do whatever it took to give him a happy and long life." she said her mind returning to that wonderful moment. "I already knew how much I loved him, but at that moment, at that moment, I knew... I knew that I would die for him."

John wanted to pull her into his arms, but resisted as he said "I wish I had been there. That my first time alone with our son hadn't been with him being determined to get me to leave."

Georgie saw the bleak expression on his face, leaning over, she clasped his hands with her and said "John, we can do nothing about the past. We can only move on. I forgave you for not being there then, but now, all of this being dredged up, made me forget that. Where we go from here, is up to us. But it can't be you making plans and then informing me about them later. I am not that sweet naive nineteen year old who thought you hung the moon."

John couldn't resist pulling her into his arms, then resting his head on top of hers as he said "I know that, but Georgie, she was a wonderful, loving young woman."

Looking at his hands, then at the ring box he had left on the table, Georgie said "We have both changed, Johnny. We need to spend some time getting to know one another. You are right, I am still attracted to you, but the simple fact is, I don't know you. Not this you."

John edged back, looking into her eyes then leaned down to press a gentle kiss on her lips. Letting go, he said "I will try to stop being so overbearing. I am just scared Georgie. When my mom died, my dad lost it, I lost it. Then you came into my life, and I fell in love. I left to go home believing that I was responsible for my mothers death."

Explaining he said after a few moments of silence. "When I finally got my head on straight, I went back to Italy. I came looking for you, but I didn't intend to stay away so long. You had left, I only had a few words to go on. You and I never talked about where we were from. Just in vague terms."

"I know, I thought about that later. I thought it was because you didn't really love me." she said softly.

With a snort, he said "Yeah, right. You never mentioned the town where you were from. I knew that you had a mom, a dad two sisters and a brother who showed up a few years before. We talked about them in general terms, both of us did it." he stated. "I kept going back to Italy. Your school wouldn't tell me a thing, I even donated money to their new library, thinking that might get me some information. It didn't."

"You tried to bribe them?" she asked suddenly laughing. "John-"

When his phone suddenly rang, he held it up so she could see that it was Jason Morgan. "What's up?"

"Spencer, he is going to blow a gasket. That daughter of his, she married Scott Baldwin's son." replied Jason who then added that the man had shown up at the hotel with a gun. "I wouldn't bother you, but I thought he might show up at your family's house. He is not the most rational man on the planet."

Hanging up, he asked Georgie. "Do you know why Luke Spencer would be upset about Luna marrying the son of Scott Baldwin?"

Georgie looked at him to see if he was serious, then laughed. "Okay, sit down. Scott was Laura's first husband. Luke raped Laura at the disco where they both worked. I don't know the back story but anyhow, as sick as it is. Laura fell in love with Luke, divorced Scott and married her rapist."

"How is it that you know this, clearly Morgan does and yet there is nothing official about it." he asked.

"Laura never pressed charges. Bobbie Spencer Jones used to be married to my Uncle Tony." she explained. "A few years ago, it came out that Luke used to be a gigolo, the woman he was involved with when he attacked Laura came to town and told their son Lucky. It was ugly, really, really ugly."

Georgie added "As for Scott, somehow, he became the bad guy in all of this. Luke resents his very existence. Laura still talks to him. Lulu marrying Scott's son, will set her father off, big time. I get now why she kept it a secret. My guess, Lulu finds herself disowned."

"I am not sure that is not a good thing." he replied even as he decided to have a few of his security people come over, not that it was an ideal situation but he was worried. "I had better head home. Can you be ready in the morning?"

"You better make it about noon. Antonio can be a handful to travel with. This way he will sleep through the drive." she suggested.

Not wanting her in town, just in case Spencer should hear the rumors, John thought about it then he said "I have a better idea. If we pick up whatever we need along the way, can you get things ready tonight."

"John, do you have any idea how much is needed when Antonio travels?" she asked shocked. "There are the clothes, the toys, the portable potty since he is scared of the big ones. We need a place for him to sleep, snacks. Plus there is what I need."

"Georgie, look, Luke Spencer is angry with me, and if he goes off, I don't want you or our son getting hurt because of my bad judgment regarding doing business with him." he replied. "Something just feels wrong, please, for me?"

"Fine, but I am sleeping while you drive." she warned as she dragged him up the stairs to their son's room. John sent a few text messages, then made one call while Georgie went to the hall closet took out a suitcase then set it on her bed before returning to the bedroom down the hall. Seeing John standing there watching with eyes that showed clearly his emotions, she reached out and took his hand.

"Stay here, with him. I will get what we need ready." she whispered. Nodding no, he asked her to point out what she wanted brought. Shaking his head no at her piles, he moved in and whispered. "Just pack enough for the next two days."

"Do you have any idea how expensive replacing his clothes?" Georgie found herself giving a quick kiss then he pointed out that he was quite capable of replacing them.

"What toys should we bring?" he asked then sat down with the basket and was soon handing what she assured him where the current favorites. Returning the basket to the toy closet, his eyes widened when he saw another large basket with the same amount of cars.

Georgie who had followed him, reached in and grabbed a coat hanging on the rack, then closed the door while pointing to the bathroom and mouthing the word potty. Finding the fire engine potty, John couldn't help thinking he would have been more afraid of this than the big kids potty at his son's age.

Georgie took him at his word, grabbed just enough clothes for the next few days from her own closet before lifting her phone to call Matt. "I have to head out of town for a few days. Can you check on things for me at the house?"

Matt looked at the lovely nurse flirting with him, then reluctantly walked away. "Sure, is this that trip we talked about with John?"

"Yes, he is concerned about the Spencers. Thanks Matt, I love you." she told him before making a similar call to her father, then to Maxie who told her that she was happy that Georgie had changed her mind about going. "I have to put Antonio's needs before my own."

"Georgie, why not take care of those needs, you said he was pretty good in bed." said her loud mouthed sister and the man now entering heard her through the phone. Raising his eye brow in amusement, he said "Just what did you tell your sister?"

"Don't get all egotistical on me, after all you were the only man I had had sex with up to that point, after all." she said loftily. John gripped the car tightly then recalled what his investigator had told him then reminded himself of his own past for the last couple of years.

Considering kissing her senseless but worried she might change her mind about the trip, John just said "What else do you need?"

"The car seat from my car as well as the DVD player, in case he wakes up during the trip." she replied then went to check her fridge. Taking out one of his sippy cups, Georgie tossed that along with some of his juice boxes into a small cooler before calling out. "How long will this drive take?"

"Not long." John said then asked "Do you have a passport in case we cross the border?"

"Yes. The desk drawer." she told him as she went to grab her purse and phone charger. John knew that this wasn't a good idea, that he should tell her where they were going but decided that it would ruin the surprise as he carried the rest of the items outside to where Georgie was standing staring. "John, why is there a limo in my driveway. I thought our leaving was supposed to be discreet?"

"It's not a stretch limo. It's just a slightly longer car than normal with a driver." he replied then asked the man to load the suitcases while Georgie shook her head in disbelief at the man's obtuseness. Checking the locks on her doors, she went up stairs to get Antonio and saw John lifting their son, who opened his eyes frowned at the man holding him then said "Where is Mommy?"

"Right here." she said "We have to take a little trip, okay sweetie. John is going to carry you to the car for Mommy, okay?"

"Okay. Mommy." he said then rested his head on John's shoulder and went back to sleep. John soon maneuvered into the waiting car, his heart pounding as he felt his son breathing in and out as they drove off into the night.

About five minutes from the Syracuse airport, John noticed that Antonio wasn't the only one asleep, Georgie's head was resting against his shoulder nearest their son and was fast asleep herself. "Well this will certainly make this easier."

Loading them onto the jet took some skillful work. John carried his son, then warned the cabin steward to stay a good distance away but to keep an eye on the curly haired boy. "He bites like a rabid Chihuahua and doesn't like strangers I will be right back with my fiancee."

Carrying Georgie onto the jet, John laid her next to Antonio on the bed, then went to see the pilot. "How long will this take tonight?"

"Syracuse to Verona Italy, about nine hours with head winds." replied the pilot as he finished the pre-flight check offs. John returned and asked the cabin attendant to let them sleep. "I don't want to be disturbed unless it is an emergency."

"We will be resting. Here are our passports, deal with immigration." he said then went to join his family in the small bedroom. After setting up the small potty, just in case John went to check on the rest of the items he had asked for.

Crawling into bed next to Georgie, he was soon fast asleep until he felt a small body crawling over him. Tensing a bit worried, he found himself relaxing as he listened to his son using the small potty. When he climbed back into bed, John had to keep from laughing as he watched from beneath hooded eyes as his son frowned at him then deliberately laid down between his mommy and the man in bed with them.

TBC

"Maybe you should have asked that before insisting on his coming over." she pointed out tersely.

"Guess that is a yes." she said then walking over to her brother who sniffed the air, his sister had a strange sort of sick smell to her but she just reached out, pulled his head lower and whispered "Don't blow this, talk, but John, please, please listen."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Georgie woke up, looked around, then groaned when she noticed they were still in the jet. Trying to find a clock so she could see how long she had been asleep, her eyes fell on the other side of the bed and found it hard to contain her need to laugh.

John was fast asleep on his back, one leg hanging off the bed with Antonio on top of his father, lying on his back in almost the exact same position. The only difference was that his leg was between his father's thighs.

Seeing her purse on a small shelf, she quietly opened it and took out her cell phone to snap a photo of the two of them, then looked at the time. Adding and subtracting, she came up with them being in the air for at least six hours.

Opening the door to the cabin, she saw the man sitting there in uniform and before she could even ask a question was being offered something to drink. "Would you like some breakfast Ms. Jones. An omelet perhaps?"

"No, just some juice, thank you." she said politely as she sat down on the long sofa bench seat. Looking at the brochures on the shelf and seeing the now familiar mouse ears, she wasn't too happy. Antonio was a bit young for the standing in line that a trip to either of the theme parks covered. John clearly had never been anywhere near a theme park with kids as young as their son.

"Here you are, Ms. Jones. If you need anything else, please let me know." said the man as he returned to his seat. Georgie drank what tasted like fresh orange juice and did the math. From upstate New York, if they were on their way to Florida, they would be there soon, if it was California they would be in the air for at least a couple more hours.

"Excuse me, is there a shower on board?" she asked feeling a bit grubby. When the very helpful man told her yes, then offered to show it to her, Georgie thanked him but turned down the offer. "I don't want to disturb John and our son."

Stealthy she returned to the bedroom, shaking her head at even the idea of a bedroom on board a jet, then went to the door on the other side. Finding the shower, she quickly tossed down her overnight bag that the oh so helpful staff had placed on the seats in the plane and showered away the sleepies.

In the main part of the cabin, the steward saw the little boy who was peeking out the door, stood planning to offer him something to drink, but recalling what Mr. Zachara had said, sat back down and waited to see if the child came over to him.

Antonio looked around, didn't see his mommy and closed the door. Opening the other door and finding clothes, he finally saw the third door. Hearing water and knowing that meant mommy was showering, he looked over at the man on the bed. "Wake up."

John heard the words at a distance as he rolled over and started to go back to sleep. Feeling a sudden weight landing on him, his brain started to function but when the weight started to rock back and forth saying. "Wake up, wake up, wake up."

Reaching back to steady the youngster, John turned over onto his back then said "Would your Mommy let you get away with that?"

"Nope." said the grinning little boy. "Hungry."

As he looked around, John heard the shower, so he said "Let's go see what we have, okay?"

Nodding and grinning, Antonio leaned in and asked "No tell Mommy?"

"No tell Mommy but no more jumping on people okay?" he asked even as he knew that more than likely his son's uncle, his son's aunts had all probably had the same conversation with him.

"Okie dokie." said the little boy holding his hand as they went to the cabin. "Do you have Captain Crunch?"

"I don't think so. Let's see." Opening the door, John hoped against hope that his sister's very bad eating habits meant that there was at least one sugary sweet cereal on board. Almost saying yes at his successful search he turned and asked "How about this one?"

When Antonio shouted yes in a very loud and happy tone, John knew that the Fruit Loops were more than likely something banned at home. As they sat down next to the table, he looked around at the clean floor and said "How about we do this. You can eat the cereal without milk, but you have to drink a glass later on, okay?"

The grinning toddler, sat down with the cereal while the steward looked at his boss with a clearly uneasy expression. "Thomas whatever it is, say it."

"Sir, I don't think that his mother is going to be very happy. I know that your sister loves her breakfast cereals, but sir, that is almost pure sugar. Having it in milk, might keep you out of trouble." Going over to the bag, worried a bit, the man looked inside and gave a sigh when he saw the sippy cup.

Pouring some milk inside, he screwed the top back on and said "Sir, trust me, give the little boy this, his mother won't be so unhappy when she sees this."

Watching as Antonio carefully ate one brightly colored circle after another in between drinking some of the milk, he was smiling at John like he had given him a brand new toy. "He looks happy."

"Oh I am certain he is." said Georgie from behind him. Turning he saw her face and said "It was all we had."

Her lips curved up a bit, then she said "John, in about twenty minutes, he is going to need a bath. It's fine, we are on vacation, I guess one bowl of that won't kill him. Why on earth do you even have it on board?"

"Claudia." he said with a laugh. "She loves that stuff."

"I am not surprised." she turned to the steward and asked "May I please have a Western Omelet with some toast now. John have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, we just got out here. I will shower while he is making them." with that he checked to see if his son was paying attention. When it was clear he wasn't, John brushed a kiss against Georgie's lips before departing to the bedroom where he kept a go bag.

Showering, he couldn't help being relieved at how calm Georgie was, he had expected to have to deal with her being furious that he had taken them out of the country without letting her know. Soon shaved and dressed, he looked at the small box with his mother's engagement ring, then at the other long box. The one he had wanted to give to her years ago and put them both back into his travel bag.

Georgie had taken her first bite when the annoying man returned. "John, we really need to talk about this. Maybe discussed where we were going."

Before he could answer the in house phone beeped. Listening to the pilot, he nodded a couple of times then went to check on the bedroom before returning to say "We are going to be landing in a little bit. Antonio, we have to put a lid on your cereal, and you have to sit in your seat, okay?"

"May I have a cookie?" asked the inventive toddler. "Please?"

"No." said Mommy who saw his resigned expression and said "Maybe later, right now, we have to wear our seat belts okay?"

As the jet started to land, the pilot came on and said "Local temperature is a balmy 62 degrees. Enjoy your visit."

When the private jet was being inspected, Georgie saw the uniforms then looked at John. He saw her shock and said "What is it?"

"Uh, this isn't California is it?" she asked not sure if she was angry, annoyed or just surprised. "We are in Italy."

"Lago de Garda to be exact." he said uneasily. "About a half hour drive to Verona."

"Why?" she asked. "Why come back here?"

"Because it was here that things got messed up. Do you remember when we were planning on coming here and then I suddenly had a 'friend' with a place at Lake Como? My sister knew of the place here and I didn't want us to be found. She found us anyhow and said I was needed home. That my father wanted to speak to me. I uh, I thought I was about to be disinherited. It's why I didn't tell you the truth like I had planned." he added awkwardly.

Georgie looked at him, then at their son who was giggling as he tried to get his sippy cup that was stuck between the seats. Freeing the blue hard plastic cup and lid, she handed it to him and then said "We can talk about this later. Right now we had better get Antonio off the plane. He has been pretty good but I am sure he is restless by now."

Back inside a limo, she looked at John and snarked a bit "Must have been so difficult when you lived here, without a driver to take you places?"

"Not really, see I had this girl friend with this very small car in which I could pretend to have accidental contact with body parts." he replied to her amusement. "Plus, there was the bike. Your arms wrapped around me, your breas-"

"JOHN!" she said her face flushing as she looked at their son who was watching them with a very intent expression. He gave an unrepentant grin at the two of them then said "Plus, I could imagine what it would feel for your legs to be wrapped..."

Once again, her hand covered his mouth, but this time he took advantage and licked her palm. When she snatched it away quickly, he clasped it in his own and returned it. "Unless you want me to keep talking."

When Antonio suddenly started laughing, they both turned to the little boy who had gotten free of his seat and crawled over top of John to get to his mommy. "Mommy' wheres are we?"

"Italy." John said. "Where your family comes from."

When he looked around confused, Georgie said "Not a good idea. We went to Australia for Christmas to visit Uncle Robbie. That is the same thing he told Antonio."

"Did he like it there?" asked John curious as to what his son had thought of the land down under.

"He found all sorts of animals to chase, saw a kangaroo and tried to make a dingo into a pet dog thanks to Jasper Jacks' brother. It was great." she said with a smile. "Do you know Jerry?"

"I didn't even know Jax had a brother."

"He is a bit off kilter. It was the first time I actually meet the man. He isn't involved with Jax's business, I have no idea what he does for a living but dad doesn't really like him, more like tolerates the man." she said while watching as their son stared out the window.

"Mommy, can I go to the park today?" Georgie looked at John then asked. "Where are we staying?"

A bit hesitant he said "We built a hotel onto the Casino. I checked us into the owners suite."

Georgie was quiet as they rode the rest of the way to the hotel. As soon as the door opened, Antonio was clamoring to get out. "Hold onto my hand."

"Okay Mommy but I want to see the ducks." he said beaming at her. John wasn't sure what he was talking about but Georgie laughed then knelt down. "Sweetie, I don't think the hotel has any ducks. Those were in a different place."

"No ducks?" he asked disappointed. "Okay."

As he quietly followed Georgie, John was being greeted by the hotel manager who escorted them up to the suite. The tall thin Italian woman wearing designer clothes wasn't too happy to see the brunette and little boy with John. "If you need anything, anything at all, you just let me know."

"Thank you, Sophie." he said in a dismissive tone. "We will take care of things from here on out. Would you please arrange for the concierge to find us some ducks."

"Ducks sir?" she asked a bit confused.

Seeing Antonio in the window, looking across the skyline, John said "My son wants to see some ducks.""

"There is the zoo, it might have some ducks." she replied a bit doubtfully then looked down and saw no wedding ring. When the woman he was accompanied by came back to the living room of the suite and said "John, do you know why they put Antonio's daybed in your room in instead of mine?"

Sophie just gave her an impersonal smile then said "I will arrange for the staff to come up and correct that."

"No, it's fine." said John then gently nudged her to the door. When she had left, John said "You two can take the master, I will use the secondary bedroom."

"Can we go to the park now?" asked Antonio. "Please?"

"How about I take you to the park while Mommy goes shopping?" asked John as he gave Georgie a smile that bordered on a grin. "Unless Mommy wants me to pick out her clothes?"

"No, no that will be fine, if it is okay with Antonio." she said looking at her son who stared at the man in front of him then nodded okay. "Maybe the two of you can look at bicycles while you are out. But no buying one until Mommy sees it."

John felt solidarity with his son when Antonio pouted a bit but said okay, mommy.

John handed Georgie his credit card pointing out that this was his idea, that he had been the one suggesting paying for the clothes. "Besides, if you don't let me pay, I will just ask Sophie to take care of it for us."

Leveling her gaze at him, she wasn't happy at all when she saw the amusement in his eyes. Clearly he was trying to challenge her so she took him up on it. "You know, you could end up regretting giving me your card."

"I dare you, try to max it out." he said with a smirk. Georgie pulled out her phone, made sure it worked then called Diane Miller. "Diane, I know you love to shop in Italy. What is the most expensive store for buying clothes and shoes. What about kids clothes?"

"Antonio, I say we go find you a bicycle before your mommy tries to max out my card." he said. The little boy put his car on the stand, then walked over to his mommy and said "Bye Mommy, John and I are going bye now."

Waving at them, Georgie waited a few minutes then called Maxie. She stopped to watch them go then said "Sorry about that Maxie, John was trying to get my goat. I have to go shopping and was wondering if you remembered the name of that kid's designer whose clothes were so comfortable for Antonio. I am going to make Antonio's father regret challenging me to try and max out his card. Jerk."

"The man gives you a credit card to buy anything you want to wear for the next few weeks and you are upset. Georgie, only you." she said hanging up the phone and shaking her head. "Seriously, she can't be my sister."

"What did Georgie do know?" asked Jax from his favorite entrance. Maxie looked at him, then her computer before doing some typing. Then some more then she looked at him confused. "Relax, I didn't order anything. I ended the relationship last night. I am hiding because Carly, Skye and Claudia Zachara are out there, looking for me."

"Really?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "Three women your age, all looking for you and the blond romeo is hiding in my shop. Who are you and what have you done with Jasper Jacks?"

"If they were after my body, I wouldn't have felt the need to sneak in here like a thief. No, they want me for that fashion show my ex girlfriend Brenda is arranging."

"I don't get that, you were dating Brenda Barrett and you dumped her at the alter, Jax, there really is no hope for you, is there?" she asked.

"Maybe I am waiting for you to grow up." he said with a knowing smirk. "Besides, Brenda couldn't make up her mind between her ex fiancee and me. And while Skye is a wonderful business women, Carly is way too talkative. I think the only reason her marriage works as well as it does is that Lorenzo is slightly deaf. And I only know Claudia by reputation, from my brother."

"Oh, she dated Jerry?" Maxie asked slightly let down. She had thought Claudia better than that.

"According to Jerry, yes they did. Before I forget that computer geek you know, I saw him down at Jake's, getting smashed on wine coolers." he said. "Something about how the bountiful blond one used him to break the heart of the demented one's spawn?"

Maxie held up her hand then called Dante. "Spin is drunk at Jake's."

Hanging up she said "That is Spinelli speak for Lulu Spencer sleeping with him. I have no idea who the demented one's spawn is. Maybe John. What do you do know about his father?"

"Anthony Zachara. Demented? Not likely. He is a bit obsessed with his roses but otherwise, he is fine. Do you know why Robin called me?"

"Don't call her back, trust me." she warned. "She is planning a fundraiser for some kids' organization. I asked if I could donate time or money, but know they want you to actually DO work. Can you imagine me working with kids? In this dress?" she said showing off the Betsy Johnson original she was wearing.

"You spend time with your nephew all the time." he pointed out. "Doesn't that count.

"No, because I hang with him because he is cool, not just another ankle biter." she replied. Then hearing laughter told him that the trio was coming. "You better flee."

"Great, I am reduced to the back halls, avoiding my partner so that I don't end up pissing off either Carly, Robin or Brenda. What is up with the dueling fundraisers?" he moaned as he slipped back out the door after messing up her hair.

Maxie was stomping her feet as she raked her hands through her hair to try and repair it as the three women entered. "Maxie have you seen Jax?"

"No, he dumped his latest mistress, maybe he is out looking for another one. I hope he works quickly, my bottom line does much better when he has one." she muttered darkly while reading about the latest buyer fashion show in New York. "Claudia, do you have a moment?"

The other two left, determined to find their query while the Italian looked at Maxie and asked "Did your sister call?"

"They are wherever they are. Georgie was going to get some clothes for Antonio and her. I just wanted to know what is up with the Spencers?" she inquired.

"Nothing, Luke left town to track down Lulu, Lucky is holed up with his girlfriend a stripper who used to turn tricks by the name of Abby and Ethan left town right before his bookie's goons caught him. Laura is here, raising Cain."

"Thanks, I hope they leave my family alone."

In Italy, Georgie was shopping for her little boy, finding what was needed and not worrying about the price. She had been worried at first, but now was just enjoying being able to just chose what she thought would look good and what was comfortable.

Seeing some of the small outfits, she could almost imagine Antonio stomping around in mud puddles, or riding his new bike. Going over the list, she soon only had his underclothes to get along with socks and shoes.

Paying for the cute little pajamas with the race cars on them, she tried to remember the Italian word for socks, getting the training pants, plus some pull ups just in case, Georgie went to find shoes. Arranging for all of it to be delivered, she went shopping for both John and herself.

Just as she was buying herself some sneakers, Georgie felt her phone ringing. "Where are you?"

"AT the bike shop a couple of blocks from the hotel. We found the perfect bike." said John as he watched Antonio riding it around the small shop. "It's silver with blue trim. We have a bike helmet, knee pads and elbow pads."

Georgie could hear their little boy in the background, but couldn't tell who was more excited John or him. Taking a leap of faith she said "Why don't you get it and let him ride back to the hotel."

"Meet you there." Being hung up on, Georgie finished her shopping and had the driver take her back to the hotel. When she was about a block away, she saw John walking next to Antonio who was biking slowly along the sidewalk. "Can you let me out here and take my packages to the hotel."

The driver nodded and within seconds she came up behind John and said "Well look at my awesome big boys. Wow, that is one cool bike."

"MOMMY!" shouted the three year old. "See, what John got me? It has a bell, mommy."

"Yes, I see." she said then when they came to a wider spot in the sidewalk, stopping to inspect the bike. "Rhino huh?"

John started explaining the safety features and then said "It has a great safety rating, it's why I thought it was perfect."

"And that it is chrome and has a bell had nothing to do with it?" she asked him as they heard the clanging of the bell.

"Oh course not." he said pretending to be insulted at her knowing grin. "Did you get our shopping down?"

"It's all being delivered as we speak." she answered. "Why don't we take Antonio to the square and let him ride his bike for a while."

When the little boy excitedly started shouting yes, John reached out, took Georgie's arm as they directed him towards the square which had no motorized vehicles. Getting to lattes they were soon chasing the little speed demon all over the place. "He just hopped on and started riding."

Georgie saw how proud he was of the toddler but knew she had to burst his bubble. "He has been riding Jake's old bike for a couple of months. I just wanted to wait until it was closer to summer to buy one."

Resting for a moment to catch his breath, they soon were eating lunch at the outdoor cafe. "Mommy, can I tell grandpa about my new bike?"

"Well how about we show him when we get home." she offered. When he started to yawn, John lifted him to his shoulder while Georgie pushed the bikes. At the hotel, when the two of them crossed the lobby Sophie came over, asking John if he intended to supervise the casino that evening.

"No, I will be having dinner with my son and his mother." he replied then frowned at her brashness in even questioning him. "If you will excuse us."

The afternoon was quiet with Antonio taking his nap with John supervising and Georgie putting away their clothes. When she rejoined him, he asked. "What now? Do you have any more questions?"

"What about you, do you have any about Antonio?" she asked sitting down across from him. "I was amazed at how easily you handled him today. He likes you and is comfortable with you."

"But he still won't let me near his mommy." John reported what had happened when they were on the jet. "I loved every moment I had with him today, like I always do when you and I were together here."

"John, you have to give me time, please." she said. "I am nervous enough about Antonio and you, let me get used to things, please."

Moving next to her, John felt the usual static electricity that always surrounded them. "I don't mean to push, I just keep remembering how hard it was for me to even get you to go out on a date with me."

Laughing at that, Georgie's head went forward as she used her hair to hide the vulnerable expression on her face. John reached over and tipped her head back, tucking the stray curl behind her ear. The sudden heat created tension and all she wanted was to get away.

Backing off, knowing he had to or else, John stood and said "Why don't I arrange for some dinner for us and find out from the concierge what age appropriate activities are going on."

"Yes to dinner, but I think that it might be a good idea to make an early night of it. Antonio is going to need a more sleep tonight, to deal with the time change." she said then asked. "When you were here before, there were a lot of supercars at the casino, does that still happen?"

"I would think so. Why?" he asked moving over to where she was now standing looking out the window. "Want to go for a drive?" He knew it wouldn't take much to arrange a rental of one of those outrageous toys.

"No, not really but I was thinking that if we had dinner close to the valet station, Antonio could see the cars as they come in. The casino gets the playboys early, at least that was what you once told me."

"I will arrange it." he said then hurried out the door. Stopping in the kitchen, he gave the chief a specific dinner request, then went to see about clearing out what was the office available to the family. "Thank you, Sophie. I am arranging for dinner to be served in here tonight."

The dark haired beauty asked "What time?"

"The cook has all the details. Could you also arrange for a bottle of the '89 Shiraz to be brought up." Dismissing the woman, he went down to talk to the head valet who listened to what he had to say in amusement then answered. "Usually one or two. The current fascination is with the Zenda, do you think he would like one of them?"

"I'm honestly not sure. He loves the Bugatti, I think the Ferraris might get his attention." Soon back on the top floor, he entered the suite to find Georgie reading and a now awake Antonio curled up next to her. Sitting down on the sofa, he saw the huge yawn and said "I think someone is still tired."

"He is. Antonio why don't you drink some of your juice for mommy." she said then asked John to join her. When they were both seated, she asked their son to bring over his drink. He looked longingly at his DVD player and asked "Mommy can I watch Penguins?"

"In a minute, Mommy needs to talk to you about something first." she said "It's about John. You know how Jason is Cameron, Jake and Emmy's dad?"

Nodding a bit, he just watched his mom. "Antonio, John is your daddy."

"Okay." Whatever he had been expecting, just acceptance of this wasn't anyplace on his list. John saw his son look at him then at his mother, before asking "Mommy can I go and get my car?"

"How about you join us here for a few minutes. Do you want to ask anything?"

"My car." was all he said. John looked at the little boy then said "Uh, how about... would you mind if I was a round a bit more. If I uh, tucked you into bed and helped your mom take care of you."

"Okay." was the response again. "Mommy can I get my car?" Letting him chase into the bedroom, she saw that John seemed stunned and she was sure she had a similar expression on her own face. "He may have questions later, but for now, lets just let him ask them when he is ready."

"Okay." he said echoing their son. Then leaning his head on the back of the cushion he said "Can I ask about things, about Antonio?"

Georgie looked at the awkward looking man, then said "Anytime you want. John, you are his father, there is no doubt about that."

"I have NEVER doubted that." he said harshly. "Why would you even think I did?"

Blinking to hold back the tears he had suddenly brought up, she said "I-I, I wasn't talking like that. I meant our son, I would have never put another man in your place as his father. I might have moved on someday, but Antonio would have known of you."

Reaching out, he held onto her hands then said "I would have hated that. Georgie, I grew up with a very loving family. Its why when my father seemed to angry with me over my mother, it was what caused me to run because my family, has always been there for me. I wouldn't have wanted you to deny Antonio that, because of some memory of me."

Closing her eyes a bit, she said "Now, I seem to have gained you bad habits and am stumbling through this. I always knew Felicia was my mother, but Alexis came into my life at such a young age, that she was the one who was there for me. To me, I had two moms. One who gave birth to me and one who raised me."

"Do you ever resent your biological mother?" he asked.

"At times, but Maxie was always so angry for both of us, I just let it go. When I found out about being pregnant, then when I couldn't find you. I was depressed for a bit, but it was Maxie and Matt who helped me deal with it. Maxie by talking Dante into trying to track you down, but also because she decided she would be there for me. Matt by simply being a part of my life. His mother had a relationship with Mac, it didn't work out, so she moved away. Found out she was pregnant and married the man she loved. Matt's stepdad was the one who told him the truth. He is still close to both of his dads."

"I can't get past the guilt. There are things I have to tell you." he said then looked over to see their son playing with his cars on the long coffee table. "Stupid things that you are going to hate me for."

"You know... telling me straight out would be better than what you are doing." she stated.

"When I returned home, I was sick a lot. Throwing up, everything aches, I slept a lot. Then was nauseous constantly. I would have back pain but nothing was wrong with my back. I had other symptoms." Looking at her he said "About seven months after I left Italy, a specialist told me that if I had told him my symptoms and was a woman he would have said I was pregnant."

Georgie laughed, then her eyes widened in horror before grabbing her phone. Calling Robin she asked "Do you remember when you were pregnant with Emma and that aborigine friend of your father's came to town?"

"Oh course." she said then looked at her husband who was filling out his paperwork in her office, using her desk and glaring at her computer. "Why?"

"You were mad at Patrick."

"I remember." she said grimacing as she recalled the stupidity she and Patrick had been perpetrating. "Why?"

"Remember the ritual he performed. The one he insisted on doing, the one that landed Patrick in the hospital, convinced he was dying?" she said suddenly laughing as it truly hit her what John had gone through. "The one where you were in labor and he was the one in pain?"

"_Let he who is obvious to the beauty of nature, take the obligation of motherhood on, to grant him the strength to persevere into the stars. Give him who truly loves the chance to experience the heart, the soul and the mind. When love is true, the course is a winding road, the man walking it bends to the willows, the woman gains strength from truth. Only then will the child know the beauty of truly being loved." _she recited.

"We thought it didn't work, remember? I mean, we know that is nonsense. It was only for if the couple was apart, you two weren't." she asked.

"It didn't, I knew that Patrick loved me and our child, he just was terrified of letting us down. I tried to tell Dad's friend that, but he said he had seen the future and that the circle was there to lead the doubting one into the light of the truth."

"I think that the future he saw, it was mine. You remember being envious because I was never really sick, never really tired?" she asked and saw John now watching her intently. "John's dad called in specialists because he was suffering from what they called phantom symptoms."

"It was supposed to cover labor too." said Robin as she started chuckling. "Ask him!"

Covering the phone, Georgie did and saw his face as he mumbled yes. Telling Robin, she said "I have to go, keep this to yourself."

"I won't." she said cheerfully then hung up. Seeing Elizabeth Morgan, she soon has the woman in tears as she laughed at the idea of a man suffering what women normally did through out a pregnancy.

Meanwhile in Italy, John had stalked to the windows, his mind on what else he had to tell her. Georgie saw his sudden nervous strain and walked over. Rubbing his back like she did with their son, she asked "What is it? I know that there is something, that something is eating at you."

"I was in the hospital the day you gave birth. They gave me a clean bill of health. I took the doctor back to the penthouse suite I was staying in." he left the rest silent, she didn't need to hear the words, she would know exactly what he did.

Georgie gasped, hurt but trying to stay calm. She had no right, none to be angry because they weren't together but the idea that he had been messing around with some woman while she had been laying in a bed, thinking about what she would some day tell their child about him.

When he felt her hand pull back, he closed his eyes, not able to face her, to face what he had done. "I'm sorry, I am so sorry. I should have been with you, if it wasn't for..." he didn't get to finish with that he should have been with her because Georgie stalked off to the bedroom.

The door closed with a silent click, he almost wished it had been slammed but then looking at the little boy who was now staring at him he got that Georgie was being a mom. As Antonio came over, John knelt and waited for him.

"Hi!" Was all he said but was a bit surprised when his son touched his face, then said "Sad like Mommy?"

"Yes." he couldn't lie, it was clear that Antonio saw what was in his heart. "May I have a hug."

Climbing into the man's arms, he leaned his head on his shoulder than tightened his grip like only a three year old could and said "It's okay daddy. I loves you."

Controlling his need to sob but unable to control the tears, John just held on tightly then when the little boy wiggled free he said "Go give Mommy a hug."

John stood on shaky knees, then looked at the little boy ordering him around even as he went back to his toys and then went to the door. Knocking lightly he asked "May I come in?"

The door opened and the pale woman let him inside then looked at him. "I have no right being angry but I am. I am working through it though. I just keep reminding myself we weren't together, you had no idea what was going on. Right now, I have to take a shower, then we have to take our son down to dinner."

John sat down on the bed listening to the sounds in the suite. Antonio making car noises and Georgie in the shower. He was sure the shower was so that their son didn't hear the sobs, but each one was like an arrow to his heart. Closing his eyes, he reached for his phone then made a call. "I told her everything. Right now she is in the bathroom showering and sobbing. How do I fix this?"

The man on the other end said "Time, time and the knowledge that neither of you meant to hurt each other."

"It doesn't help. I get green with envy and anger at the idea of her even dating another man, yet look at what I did for the last four years. I have no right, none to be like that."

"Do you expect her to just accept what you did?" he was asked. "No, you don't. John when two people love each other, they can hurt each other worse than your worst enemy. Do you really think your mother and I never fought? That it was always wine, roses and song?"

There was silence then he said "No, I guess not. I just had a different ending to the day planned. I was going to give Georgie the set I had made for her. Now, I don't think she will accept them."

The older man sighed when he hung up the phone. Looking at the picture of his late wife, he said "I am afraid we won't get to celebrate our anniversary amongst your roses this year my dear. I have to fly to Italy to help our son. How about a ride down the Grand Canal instead?"

Claudia hung up the phone, Luke Spencer had ended up a patient in a mental institution. His wife had had him committed and was now using that her husband was mentally incompetent when he did business with the bank.

Their attorney said it had a good chance of sticking, so the Italian just let it play out and worried about the older blond who was still determined to regain her social status. Claudia looked at the papers she had in her safe and decided that if she had to play hardball with the woman, she had the perfect weapon.

Calling her father, she was told not to tell John anything. "They need this time as a family. I am going over to play the meddling father, see what I can do to help."

In Italy, the manager set up the dinner then seeing John coming down the hall, went to greet the owner of her hotel. "Mr. Zachara. Everything you requested was set up."

"Thank you, Sophie. If you will excuse me... By the way are we expecting any high rollers tonight in the casino?"

The dark haired woman didn't want him to think she couldn't have dinner with him because of an issue with the casino and quickly replied "NO, nothing out of the ordinary and nothing my staff can't handle."

"Oh good, I am sorry you came all the way back to the Casino to take care of my request." he said watching Antonio's face as he saw the bright lights in the casino as the little boy walked with his mommy across the machine room. "I hope you have a good night and once again, I am sorry if we inconvenienced you in any way. Georgie and I should have Antonio out of the office by nine."

"Would you like me to arrange for a sitter for your son?" she asked when she saw the little boy rushing around the corner and to his father but not seeing the mother at all.

"No, he will be staying with us tonight." he replied just as Georgie joined them. Seeing the expression on the managers face, she leaned against John and just smiled at the woman. John turned having dismissed his manager and asked. "One dinner served up with a car show for dessert."

The meal was anything but quiet as every time a car could be heard pulling in, either John or Antonio would go to see what it was. He was so excited when he saw the bright green Lamborghini that soon Georgie had forgot all about making them eat the kid friendly meal of chicken Parmesan and joined them at the windows.

As the entering cars slowed down to a trickle, she looked at the clock and said "I think it is time we got the office cleaned up, It's bed time for a certain little boy."

John grabbed the dessert and the bottle of wine, and then called for a waiter. "Would you please arrange for this to be taken to our room and then ask one of the bus boys to clean this up?"

Wiping his face, Antonio gave a sigh as his mommy finished cleaning him up then looked at his daddy. Burying his head in his mommy's shoulder to hide his yawn, he was soon drifting off towards sleep.

John was about to offer to take the little boy when he was thrust into his arms. "Daddy is going to help you get ready for bed tonight, okay sweetie?"

His eyes widening, John mouthed help only for Georgie to shake her head and reply. "Mommy is going to find that very nice Sophie and visit with her."

Now worried, John watched as Georgie exited the room and went to the Casino floor. Looking down at the little boy who was rubbing his eyes, he said "How about we get all clean and into our pajamas while your Mommy is visiting, how does that sound."

In the hallway outside of the suite, John let Antonio unlock the door with the card, then carried him inside. Gathering the little boys pajamas and his new underwear, he laughed "I would have never guessed they had designer underwear for kids."

Not sure how much water to use, he just winged it and was soon wet as the two of them splashed around while getting the spaghetti sauce off of him. Checking his ears, John couldn't help wondering how he managed to get the red stuff behind his ear lob. "Wow, you are a mess."

"Daddy, are you going to wash my hair?" asked the little boy. John didn't even get a chance to answer before the toddler held his breath then ducked under the water as blew bubbles and came back up again, his hair wet and with a great big smile on his face.

"You scared me." He scolded the little boy who just grinned. "You like the water, don't you?"

Soaping up his hair, John was now expecting the slide and just kept a close eye on him while rinsing the lather away. Lifting the little boy out of the tub, he said "What next?"

Handing him the lotion, Antonio held out his leg. "Okay, I think we can handle this."

The soon soft skinned and fresh smelling little boy was wearing his new jammies and curled up next to his daddy holding out a book. "Your mommy is so much better at this than I am. Let's see… Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Jack…."

Down in the Casino, Georgie walked around, looking for Sophie. Having grown up in Port Charles she had seen a lot of women like the Manager and she wanted a chance to see if she was right in her suspicions.

Sure enough, the woman soon walked over and said "I am afraid you will have to leave, we have a dress code for the casino and hotel staff."

"We both know you are well aware that I am not staff nor have I ever been." She said leaning back against the bar. Turning to the bartender she asked for a Scotch then looked back at Sophie holding the highball glass with the liquor.

"All I know is that John has been returning here for years, he has always taken a special interest in this casino. His first act when the hotel was finished was to put me in charge." She said smugly. "And I wonder why that is? You just showed up with a kid, you claim it's his. In the end, men like John don't keep women like you around. You will be gone; the next flavor of the month will be in your place. However, I will still be waiting when he can barely recall your name to put on the support check."

"Flavor of the month?" Georgie asked mocking the woman's words. "I do have to ask, has he ever even acknowledged you are a woman? My guess from the way you are acting that the answer is no."

"He will, it is only a matter of time." Said the hotel manager confidently . "You are no different than any of the others I have seen in the newspapers and magazines with him. You will go just a fast as they have. Most only last a few weeks."

"Sophie, you don't know a thing about me. However let me give you a lesson in John Zachara." She said looking at the woman. "John came here to look at the Casino before buying it. I remember you were here at the time. Working the cocktail tables if I recall."

Seeing Sophie's face flush, she was glad she guessed right before adding. "Do you remember Mr. Martino, the old manager?"

"He retired not long after I was promoted." She said. "Unlike some who think having kids is the way to go, I graduated from college and worked my way up in this company. I have it all planned. I give it a few more years, then John is going to go looking for a wife that fits into his corporate business life, not some little nobody. I saw the way you were dressed earlier, you are a nobody from nowheres ville."

"So you think John is going to marry a professional, like a business manager, a lawyer or maybe even a doctor?" she asked still just watching the woman.

"No, not a doctor, they are too busy to let him be the most important thing in their life." Said the woman. "But other than that, yes. Someone who he can introduce to his business associates."

"Sophie, this nobody is good friends with Elizabeth Morgan, the wife of one of John's business acquaintances. From the expression on your face, you know who she is. Artist and nurse, mother of Jason Morgan's kids." She said with a sneer. "What about Jasper Jacks, had much contact with him?"

Seeing her twisted lips, Georgie said "My family including my son visited the Jacks family station in Australia last year. We have known them for years. My stepmother is his best friend. He does business with my sister. Oh, and Sophie, I am a graduate of Columbia School of Law in the states. Next time don't judge a book by it's cover. That is something I might have to mention to Antonio's father or maybe Claudia next time I see her. Because who knows who you might offend by accident with your snobbish attitude."

With that, Georgie started to walk away then turned and said "I will be sure to send you a wedding announcement when John and I get married."

Almost snorting as if, Sophie didn't just in case it did happen but couldn't resist "Don't bother I won't give a damn."

"Oh, it wasn't for you. It was for Mr. Martino. See, he knew John and me when we were together here in Italy for years ago. I am sure he will be elated to know that we had our happy ending." Georgie walked away, finally getting why Maxie took such pleasure in baiting people.

On her way to the room, she couldn't help the grin that crossed her face even as she felt a slight sense of unease regarding lying about John and her getting married just to annoy the irritating woman.

In the suite, she found John and Antonio fast a sleep. Grabbing one of the hotel comforters from the bedroom, she checked to make sure that the door was locked and the deadbolt set before crossing over to the chair. Covering the two, she kissed Antonio, then brushed the hair off of John's forehead and did the same to him.

Sighing since it was only ten, Georgie went to find something for dessert. Seeing the tiramisu, she was about to pull it out when she saw the bottle of wine along with two glasses.

her mind on what was to happen next and how she was going to work with John in creating a life for their son. Hearing light footsteps about fifteen minutes later, she saw the dark haired little rush to the bathroom.

When he didn't return, Georgie checked and found him curled up in the middle of the great big bed in the master bedroom. "Okay, you can sleep there. Mommy will just borrow daddy's bed since he seems to find the sofa so comfortable."

Placing the pillows around Antonio, then washing her face, brushing her teeth and rubbing in her lotion, Georgie soon was changed into her silky ivory colored slip nightgown. Pulling on her robe for the walk across the short hall, she double checked to make sure that John was still asleep on the sofa.

Slipping into the cool sheets after hanging her robe on the door hook and closing the door partway, she turned off the light and was soon fast asleep.

Waking up on the sofa at almost one am, John rubbed his aching neck, then looked around. Seeing the duvet on the floor and no Antonio, he looked towards the master bedroom and saw the dark hair on a pillow with the rest of the body buried in the bed.

Standing, wishing that Georgie had woke him up when she took Antonio to their room, he turned off the remaining lights before heading to his room. Slipping of his pants, then tossing his shirt in the direction of the dresser, he yawned widely thinking he wished he was in the other room with his family. Never seeing the body on the right side, he quickly fell onto the middle of the bed with the white duvet landing on top of him and Georgie.

At about four, he heard his phone vibrating and was reaching to answer it when he heard a groan as someone objected to his moving. Becoming a bit more alert, he felt the softness of Georgie's skin against his. The familiar slight oatmeal and honey scent of her as she rubbed against him.

Deciding that there was no one he wanted to talk to this early in the morning, his hand moved to cover the naked bottom exposed by her slip while the other held her hand against his heart as he soon joined her in her dreams.

Antonio heard the buzzing sound and woke up looking around, wondering where he was. Then he sprang up as he remembered the day before. A daddy, a new bike, really loud cars and that they were not at home.

There was the buzzing sound again and looking around for his mommy or daddy, he pushed the pillows off the bed and wiggled his way down on the side. Looking around, still not seeing Mommy, he went to the hall and saw that she was still asleep with daddy.

Hurrying into the other room, he looked for something to eat then opened the fridge. Nothing to eat at first, he then saw the white box with Mommy's dessert in it from the night before. Daddy had gotten him gelato, while Mommy had had some kind of cake.

Opening it, he saw the small plate with the square looking cake and then around the room to see if he was about to be caught. The man at the door, let himself in using the key card the night desk clerk had given him and found himself watching in amusement as the little boy almost dropped the plate a few times as he slowly approached the table.

When he stretched his arms as high up as he could and set the plate on the edge and then pushed it further in, Anthony looked around wondering where his son and the boy's mother was.

Then Antonio tiptoed over to the door in the hallways and asked softly "Mommy can I have some breakfast."

When there was no answer, he hurried back to the table and climbed the chair like it was a jungle gym until he was sitting in front of the cake. Sighing as he figured out he didn't have a fork, and that it was too squishy to eat with his hands, he pouted a bit, then started to climb down.

"How about I give you this?" said Anthony as he handed the little boy the spoon he had seen on the credenza. When the wide eyed little boy looked at him scared, Anthony quickly recalled the bite marks on his children and said "I am Anthony, I was looking for my son John Zachara, have you seen him?"

Antonio looked at the man with suspicious eyes then said If John is your son than you would my grandpa. Grandpas don't let little boys eat cake for breakfast."

"Only because Mommy's and Daddies say no. But since your mommy and daddy didn't say no, I can let you eat it." he replied with a wink at his grandson. "How does that sound."

Sighing then looking longingly at the cake, Antonio said "I don't want to get you in trouble. May I have my cereal, toast and juice please? Oh, and a bannnnaa."

Messing up his hair, Anthony said "I will see what I can arrange."

Walking toward the bedroom and seeing his son and the young woman, Anthony silently pulled the door the rest of the way closed and set about ordering breakfast for two.

Fifteen minutes later, the waiter pushed in the breakfast cart and said "Cheerios, milk, wheat toast cut into tiny squares and covered with cinnamon, just like you ordered sir."

"What about the juice?" Asked the older man. He was shown a wide assortment and was soon laughing quietly as his grandson asked if that was all for them.

"It certainly is, why don't we get you settled back at the table and you can tell me all about the bike I see over there." he said as they ate breakfast and talked the importance of bells and the color blue over yellow or red.

By the time they were eating the bananas, Anthony had heard all about the funny looking loud cars and then about having a daddy. "Why don't we see if we can find you some street clothes."

"Can I wear my new cap?" asked an excited Antonio following his grandfather to his room. Meanwhile in the second bedroom, Georgie was dreaming of John and her curled up together, her mind imagining things she couldn't face wanting just yet.

Too bad it wasn't actually a dream...

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Georgie felt the warmth she associated with John and turned into it. She buried her head into his neck, her left hand curling up in his as she felt the steady beating of his heart. Drifting further into her dream, she was arching back into the feeling of his hand cupping her rear end.

Neither of them woke up as they touched and caressed one another in their dreams. John was half awake when he noticed that Georgie was tugging him on top of her. When she captured his lips in a kiss, he eased his legs between her thighs and pressed his hardness into her answering softness.

When her arousal coated his briefs, John reached down and tugged her hips until they were even more aligned. Giving into their need, he thought about the condoms in the bathroom but was afraid she might wake up and put a stop to her very erotic movements.

Capturing her lips when her moans grew louder, John kept up his steady pressure, wishing that the cotton he was wearing was gone when he felt her body come and barely kept control of his own need to do the same. When she drifted further into her sleep cycle, John grimaced at the agony as he lay there, his body begging him for release.

In the second bedroom, Anthony was helping his grandson change into his denim painters pants, his striped shirt and then his sneakers while debating how on earth he was going to discreetly wake up his son and future daughter in law without any of them being embarrassed. "Antonio, have you been to the zoo yet. Your dad loved the zoo when he was your age. We can take your bike with us as well."

"Mommy and daddy come?" he asked excitedly only for Anthony to grab the loop on his pants worried at what the little boy might walk in on. Seeing the cell phone charging on the desk gave the older man an idea. Picking it up, he once again tried his son's phone, this time he finally got an answer. "What?"

"Is that anyway to greet your father?" Anthony drawled. "I am in the room with your son since I didn't want him walking in on his father and mother at this moment."

Stiffening, John looked around, seeing the sunlight then the clock, he swore softly, not wanting to wake Georgie. "Yeah, I didn't think you wanted him to see the two of you like that."

"I will be right out." said John starting to slip out from under Georgie.

"We are just fine. I am going to take my grandson to the zoo, Mr. Thomas is with me, so you don't have to worry about us getting tired. The bike is going as well. You stay here, talk to his mother, work things out while I get to know Antonio." The older man laughed when his grandson stood in front of the full length mirror and pulled on his cap then put on his sunglasses.

"Dad, I have barely had the time to begin working towards a relationship with him, are you sure you want to spend the day with him alone?" he asked softly.

"John, who said anything about the day. I expect Georgie and you to meet us for lunch in four hours, No excuses. And I would that we have a little talk later today about our hotel manager. When I arrived today, I heard the staff gossiping about her and it needs to be handled."

John nodded, then asked to speak to Antonio. Before he could ask the little boy if he wanted to spend the day with his grandfather, he was told all about their plans and that he was going to see ducks. "Okay, you have fun with your grandfather and your Mommy and I will see you for lunch. If you get scared, have Grandpa call me on my phone, okay?"

Anthony was handed back the phone then he asked "What does Georgie usually send with him when he goes out?"

"There is a denim bag just outside the bedroom door. She calls it his go bag." John said then bit his lip to keep from moaning when Georgie innocently brushed her hand against him, causing his body to react yet again. "Thanks dad."

They both hung up, then Anthony and his grandson grabbed the bag, the bike and headed out the door. "Lets go find out what animals they have at the zoo."

Meanwhile, John set his phone back down as he recreated employment stats for each of their casinos, trying to get his body to return to it's flaccid state. Just as he was gaining control, he heard Georgie's moaning his name while rubbing against him.

"Why oh why do I have to be a gentleman?" he asked himself as the woman who had starred in his dreams over the last few years cupped him yet again. Placing his hand on top of hers with the intent of removing it, instead he couldn't help his hips moving up so that her hand was now against his growing erection.

"Georgie!" he cried out in frustration. When she woke and tried to pull back, he just couldn't help himself as he leaned into her and gave her a quick kiss to stop her retreat. "Don't go, stay please?"

She could feel his heat, the hardness of him and considers giving in to her desires. He had been her only lover and it had been four very long years. The two of them laid there, silent, scared of what the other one might say. John aching with need and Georgie recalling how he had made her feel.

Sitting up, she looked at him then said almost helplessly "I hate that I still want you, that you can make me want this so badly. Do you have any idea what this feels like? This need that I know I shouldn't be so eager to fulfill. Damn it, you have hurt me... yet, I know that you wish it was different."

"I know that." he snapped. "You were the one sleeping in my bed, I didn't crawl into bed with you, Georgie."

"I didn't crawl as you so elegantly put it, you were asleep on the sofa when I came in here." Her eyes narrowing when she saw all the bare skin in front of her she asked "Where are the pajamas I bought you."

"Georgie, I haven't worn anything to bed since I was a teenager." he growled. Looking down at the boxer briefs, he glared at his hard on, well aware that the only that was going to happen was a very cold shower. "What is up with that slip thing you are wearing. It just screams toss me onto a bed and have your way with me."

"Like hell it does. It is a perfectly respectable night slip." she said glaring at him, not noticing the show she was giving him as her breasts heaved in anger. "What if Antonio had walked in?"

"My guess is he did, along with my father." he snarled then seeing her horror-struck face added. "Dad and he went to the zoo with Mr Thomas driving."

"You let our son go off with your elderly father, from what I heard the man is almost too fragile to leave the house and you let our energetic, more than likely sugared up three year old leave here with that old man?"

"That old man can run rings around most people half his age." retorted John who then added. "Antonio is perfectly safe. Stop creating an issue so that we don't have to deal with what is going on in this room and this bed. I want you, I am sick of denying it, why can't you give me the same courtesy."

"Because as much as I would like nothing more than spend the day in bed getting reacquainted, there is too much to be worried about." she said trying to get free from his grasp.

"What, what besides our son has you so worried?" he cried out. "Talk to me."

"Condoms for one thing. Last time you didn't figure out until we were just about to..." Georgie blushed but continued. "Just before you talked me into forgoing them. I can still hear you saying that you were clean, that you had been tested. Look what happened as a result of your promise to not come inside o-of me."

Blushing beet red, he muttered to himself then glaring at her said "I lost control, you are the only person who has ever done that to me. I just lost it. The taste, the feel of you, drives me insane, in or out of bed. Besides, we both know that even being inside of you erect there is a danger of pregnancy."

"You lost your control, I found a baby." she said sarcastically. "What if that were to happen again?"

Being a smart ass, he said "Antonio gets a baby brother or sister a few years early."

"No chance in hell. Go find some condoms, then and only then would I ever consider doing what it is rather clear you are interested in doing."

Georgie needed a few minutes alone, her body was pulsing with need, she felt like she had spent the night having sex, instead of innocently sleeping next to John. Squirming just a bit, trying to get her body to calm down, she saw John looking at her and gave him a smart-assed grin, hoping he didn't know what was going on with her body.

John looked at her. Saw her smug grin, he climbed out of bed, walked to the bathroom and returned with a bag from the nearby pharmacy. Tossing it at her, he said "I picked them on the way to the bicycle shop."

"You took our son with you to buy condoms?" she asked incensed as she pulled the box from the plastic shopping bag.

"Yes, but they were behind the counter and he had no idea, none what I was doing." he reported then saw her glaring yet again. "No, no more delays. What was it you said, that if I found some condoms, you would consider doing what we are both interested in doing."

Her mouth moving, but no words coming out, Georgie said "Fine, get back into bed. But there is no way that you are going to get what you want. Remember how we started out. That is all that I think should be happening at this point."

"Really, so you are now making the rules." he stated but obeyed her orders. "Okay now what?"

A bit nonplussed because she had thought he would back down, she looked at the outline of his hard cock and swallowed with the need to try what she had been dying to since that night so long ago at Jake's.

When she had admitted to never having ever had oral sex, Dr. Lee, a friend of her cousin's and Elizabeth had arranged for a very explicit video and then Elizabeth had answered her questions with very candid answers that had made it impossible for her to face Jason Morgan for almost two months afterwords.

John saw her eyes looking at him and was about to removed his briefs but before he could she answered his question. "Give me your hand."

Kneeling next to her, John did just that then moaned with need as she placed his fingers at her moist and heated entrance and said "I want you inside of me."

Moving his head closer to hers, John looked into her eyes then said "Gladly."

Teasing her just a bit, running his fingers around her soft inner thighs, John said "Spread your knees, just a little more." Hearing his whispered oh yes, Georgie felt herself becoming even more wet.

Obeying, she looked down watching as he eased his index finger inside of her. She felt the slight invasion and then pouted a bit as he pulled his hand back. "You are still so damn tight, Georgie. Do you have any idea what this is doing to me."

Reaching down with her hands, she evaded his arms and was soon tightening her grip on him under the straining dark green cotton. "I think I have some idea. Take them off."

Standing on the side of the bed, he tugged them down and kicked them to the corner before pulling her legs to the edge of the bed, tipping her hips up as she fell back onto her elbows and watched as he plunged two fingers back into her wetness.

Shouting yes, Georgie shot up, causing the angle to change inside of her, sending another shock wave of electricity to her brain. Reaching out, she wrapped on hand around his thickness and used the other for balance as their eyes met. "Don't stop, please don't stop."

His hand was now wet, hers was moist from the pre-cum leaking from his tip as she came up over top the bulbous mushroom shaped head then ran down the sides of his cock. No noise but the friction of skin touching skin filled the air as they strained to reach their limit why trying to push the other over the top.

Not caring about her precarious balance, Georgie reached up to tug his head down as they kissed one another, tongues now joining in the same sequence of in and out movements. Breathing stopped being essential as all that mattered was winning, even if they had lost sight of the goal.

Her hand wrapped around his heat, Georgie could feel him grow even more, then noticed that his hips were now moving in tandem with her hand. As their rhythm abruptly speed up, she felt a small glow of satisfaction at making him lose that control he was so worried about.

She felt the sudden almost jump from his cock as he warned her he was about to come. Before he could stop her, she lowered her head, forcing him to stop his ministrations as she wrapped her lips around him, then swallowed the stickiness that was released.

Letting go of her hip, John pulled her hair back, some part of him needing to see this. Feeling like his body was in constant climax, he worried that it was too much, but when he finally was finished, she let go of him, raised her head almost in triumph as he grew slightly softer. "I think I won that round."

"Don't count on it." was his answer as he used her instability against her as she had ended up on her back, he said "I am not finished just yet."

Now determined to make sure that Georgie wanted more as he said. "I am going to convince you that this is right, if it is the last thing I do."

John could feel how close to the edge she was as he returned his hand to her slit. Moving first one finger back into her, then a second finger, he said "How long do you think before you are begging me to slide on a condom?"

"Not in..." she had been about to retort not in this lifetime when he eased his ring finger inside with the other two. She would swear she was seeing rainbows as he pushed her over and over again, until her body was one continual spasm. Feeling his starting to stop, she looked at him and said "Don't, please, don't stop."

John felt her body exploding again and again, her inner muscles tightening so much, he worried about causing her pain only for Georgie to beg him not to stop. Slowing down his movements, he kissed her as he gently eased her back down. "This is the way it should feel."

Closing her eyes as she accepted that while she might be still nervous, that was not about this and what would be the inevitable conclusion to this morning. She wanted him, had wanted him for years, pretending it wasn't true and trying to ignore it wasn't going to work.

"Georgie?" he asked a bit worried something was wrong, he could tell she was awake but she had been ignoring him for almost five minutes. "Was I wrong?"

Not ready to deal with him just yet, she felt his withdrawal and opened her eyes. "Don't go. No, you weren't wrong. Just stay, let me work though this."

Knowing he was pushing it, John laid down next to her on his side, his arm automatically curling around her waist. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"No." she said with a slight chuckle. "It's just, this is so raw what is between us. It was when I was barely nineteen. I was always so amazed at what would happen between us once I finally gave into your seduction."

"My seduction?" he asked, leaning his head on his raised elbow. "What are you talking about?"

"Lets see. Dinner, wine, candles, flowers, the concert in the piazza." she ticked off one after another what had happened the night that she had lost her virginity.

"It wasn't intentional. The flowers, I saw the woman selling them when I was meeting you after class. My surprise that night, it wasn't the concert. I brought you there for another reason, I had no idea that the symphony was there that night."

"And we always had wine with dinner. And I lit the candles because I didn't want you to get a good look at the mess my apartment was from earlier that day." he confessed with a wicked grin. "So, I got romantic boyfriend points huh?"

Ducking his head to kiss her pout away, he added. "There is something I need to give you. Stay here."

Her eyes following his bare butt as he crossed over to the black bag he had brought with him, Georgie saw a strange box and said "What on earth."

"Let me explain okay?" he said taking a deep breath. "I had been at the marketplace and had seen this item I wanted to give to you. It was the style that reminded me of you, not the actual piece. I took it to someone, had them make a more steady version of it. Was trying to figure out how to give it to you when I figured out that I was in love with you. I uh, I was going to give it to you that night. Then we uh, we uh, we..."

Georgie giggled when she saw his entire body flushed. "We didn't leave your bed for a day and a half."

"Yes, that." he said relieved to have finally said it. "Then I decided to talk you into going to the Lake with me, I was going to give it to you there. Claudia called and I was convinced I was about to be tossed out of my family. The money didn't worry me. Dad had insisted we each spend a year living in the real world before we went to work for him. I knew that I could open a garage if nothing else."

Georgie saw the frown and reached out for the shaking hand and said "What is it?"

"I avoided going home, we went to Lake Cumo instead. My sister tracked me down, told me to get my ass home. I was scared Georgie. I knew I loved you but you were in love with the man I was afraid I was going to become. So I broke up with you, so that when I went home if things went badly I, uh, I my pride wouldn't let me be with you if I didn't have anything to offer but my heart."

Getting it, she leaned in, rested her head against his shoulder and said "John, I loved you, I still do. So take this the way it is meant. You are an idiot. I wouldn't have cared. I loved the man I thought you were, if you didn't have anything I wouldn't have cared."

"I knew that, which was what made it harder in my mind." he said then continued. "I got home, but instead of talking to dad, I avoided him. I blamed him for costing me you, he was angry with me for running. Claudia finally forced us to talk about eight weeks later."

Sighing he looked at her and said "We had it out, then he threatened to disown me if I ever ran like that again. Said I was a Zachara and that we don't run from our fears. Yet, since my mother died, that was all I did, including with you. I stuck around, then when I got a chance, I went back to Italy. I thought I would be there in time for your graduation. Instead, you were already done, gone with no forwarding address at your place and your school wouldn't tell me anything."

"I came home." was all she said. "I was terrified of staying because I would have remained there, waiting for you in spite of believing you would never come. You had dumped me, left me that bracelet and no belief that you would ever return."

"That bracelet? Do you still have it?" he asked wincing as he recalled being a chicken shit and giving it to her when he had been so stupidly cowardly.

"Yes, I wore it a few times, but it turned my skin green." she told him then asked "Its at the house, I was going to show it to Antonio some day."

"Please, don't." he begged then opened up the box. "This, this is what I had intended to give you."

Georgie saw how similar the bracelet was to hers, then looked at him. "You kept it, why?"

"Some part of me, couldn't let go. I have had it at my father's since I came home. In my safe. May I, may I put it on?" he asked then saw her eyes widen as he lifted it off the velvet. Slipping it around her wrist, he snapped it shut then said "Where is should have been all this time."

Brown eyes met chocolate brown eyes as Georgie felt the tears on her face. "I was so angry that the only thing I had to give our son to remember you by was that bracelet. Yet this, this is, please, just take it off. I can't keep this, I just can't."

Getting it off her wrist, Georgie looked at John, feeling helplessly ashamed of herself when she saw his emotional wreckage. "John, please, you have to understand. I loved you so deeply, even knowing the truth now. I ache, do you get that. I ache at how jealous I am of those women who were in your life while we were apart, because... dammit, because I waited, wondered what became of you. Where you were, and you, you didn't even seem to think of the possibility of my being pregnant. I know that it makes no sense, I do get that, but please, please understand... that hearing all this, knowing what you were going through... it doesn't make it easier, it makes me angry, angry that you didn't do more to find me. Angry that you slept with them. That you gave a part of yourself to them, a part that I have always, always held for you."

With that, she hurried into the bathroom, started the shower and sat on the end of the counter, sobbing at her confused feelings.

In the bedroom, sitting on the bed looking at the box, John felt his heart searing with pain. Dropping the bracelet in, then closing the lid, he tried to understand, but his only idea about the female mind was his sister and Claudia always seemed to make sense to him.

Looking at the unmade bed, then seeing his phone, he did the math then made a call. "Morgan, I am in trouble and need your help."

Jason listened for a few minutes, then handed the phone to his wife who was curled up next to him listening in. Seeing the thoughtful expression on her face, he let her help the other man deal with this.

"John..." Hearing his gasp, Elizabeth said "I know both sides, remember I was Georgie's nurse."

"What do I do?" he asked wearily. "How do I get us past this?"

"Time, time and honesty." she said looking at her husband who was trying not to look disgruntled at what the Italian had interrupted. "I know that it makes no sense to you. For women, sex has a different meaning then it does to men."

Hearing the angry silence she said "It does. To what you considered just mindless sex, to her it was something more."

"I know that, I know that she sees the world through her emotions. I just hate that I hurt her and that there is really no way to make it better, to fix it." he replied. "She is so hurt."

"I know, I also know that she is reacting with more than just jealousy. John, for women... for women when we are intimate, we take a man's body into us. For some women it is no different than it is for men. To them it is little more than a business deal, dinner and movies for a night in bed." Jason's eyebrows had reached his forehead at what his wife was telling another man.

"For others, it is just having a sex toy, they can compartmentalize like men do. Then there is women like Georgie, I can add myself to that list. For us, it is more." John got it, he did but at the same time he didn't, not really. Elizabeth knew that only by talking, arguing it out would the couple ever clear this up. "For now, the best thing you can do, is stay, be there and when these feelings come up, listen, I mean really listen to what she has to say."

Hanging up, John was about to knock on the bathroom door but just opened it instead. Seeing Georgie crying into a towel, he leaned against the tiles, took her into his arms and just held her, letting the storm pass.

They stood there, silently just holding one another then she said "I hate how it bothers me, I know that it is irrational. I mean, who you were with before we got together, nope, that doesn't bother me in the least. Its hard, John. I know that you don't understand what is going on."

"I do, you are wrong about that. The idea of you with another man, it eats like acid at my heart, at my very core, so I get how it would bother you." he replied. "Georgie, I can't change the past. Lord knows if I could, I would have called home, told Claudia I couldn't leave and for her to send my father to Italy. That I missed you growing larger with our son, inch by inch, your body expanding. That I didn't get to see you graduate, that I wasn't there when Antonio was born, let alone named."

"I was kind of emotional, my Uncle Tony had brought me a chocolate pastry from Kelly's. I just thought that the Italian version of his name would honor both family and where we met. Its why Giovanni is his middle name."

Stiffening at learning that, John said "I hate that too, that this was the first time I heard our son's middle name. Yet the idea of you naming him for me, in spite of what you had to believe. It give me hope that someday we can work through all of this." he said. Reaching over to turn the water off, he thought about it and just held her, knowing that this was only the first of many arguments about the past.

Georgie sighed then said "The bracelet is beautiful, would you mind if we put it up for now. Until a later date, please?"

His head was against hers, leaning back he looked into her eyes and said "I can do that."

"I do love you, you know." she said with a sigh. "Still and I think that is part of the problem, I never fell out of love, no matter how much I tried."

"Whatever else, you should know that it was that way for me too. I made mistakes, yes. I can wait because I know that in the end, the pain we are going through, it will end at some point." he noted. "Are you up to meeting my father, or should I go get Antonio by myself."

"I will be fine." she said then turned on the shower. "You know its a good thing you own this hotel, otherwise we would more than likely have an excess water charge on our bill."

"Well if you are really worried about it, we could share." he said then seeing her half smile winked then tossed out. "So much for you being a friend of Greenpeace."

"Go shower, we had better catch up with our son before he drives your father insane. Though, if he raised you, he is probably already there." she grabbed the washcloth and took it in with her, then reopened the glass door and said "What are you waiting for?"

In the second bathroom, he showered quickly then shaved before swearing as he recalled his clothes were in the other bedroom and that Georgie's were in this one. Wearing only a towel, he saw her crossing the hall, stopped her and said "We have got to get our act together, lord knows what my father has been doing with our son all this time."

"Wait!" she called out when he continued on. "What are you talking about?"

"My dad has wanted grandchildren forever, now he has one and I guarantee by the time we leave here, he will have bought him something totally inappropriate and outrageous."

"How bad could it get, Antonio is only three." she pointed out then saw the serious expression on his face and ordered. "Oh dear, lets get going."

Dressed as quickly as they could, they were on their way across the lobby when they saw the limo driver. "Mr. Zachara, your father asked me to deliver this to your suite."

Georgie's jaw dropped when she saw the huge white bear and weakly asked "How big is that thing?"

"Ma'am, its almost seven feet. And heavy." he pointed out. John just looked at Georgie and said "What were you saying?"

Turning over her door key, Georgie took John's hand then said "Where are we meeting them?"

The two scurried out of the hotel, took the car to the piazza just in time to see their son with a milk mustache covering his now painted face. The part that worried John though was the plethora of balloons tied to the chair Antonio was sitting in. "Do you think he bought out the zoo?"

"Oh god, John, what are we going to do." she said groaning when she saw the huge ice cream sundae now sitting in front of the three year old. "He is already on his way to being spoiled, you have to talk to your father."

"Ms. Jones, I am glad to see you standing." said Anthony beaming at the wonderful young woman who had produced his grandson. "I have already ordered for us. John, stop standing there staring at your son like that. You should be introducing me to this very lovely young woman."

"D-dad, he can't eat that for lunch, he needs real food. What have you two been doing all day?" he said protesting the sweets. He couldn't get past the amount of whip topping and fudge, the sprinkles on it were also a shock so the idea of introducing Georgie didn't occur yet.

"I will have you know, he ate fish and spaghetti noodles with butter and chives for lunch. This is dessert for being such a good boy and trying the artichokes." reported Anthony while noticing that Georgie was looking ready to pass out. "My dear are you okay?"

"Uh, yes." she said then greeting her son, was rewarded with a hot fudge kiss on the cheek.

"Mommy, daddy guess what?" asked the excited three year old. "Grandpa tell 'em."

John had landed in the chair next to Georgie, as he looked at his son then handed Georgie the handkerchief he had in his pocket. "Tell us what, Antonio?"

"We visited a car store with the loud cars." he said grinning ear to ear.

In horror, John looked at his father and shocked all of them when he said. "Don't you dare. Georgie said I can't buy out toy stores nor the library, you stop right now. Do you hear me. No, absolutely not. No way, not going to happen."

"John?" Georgie saw his anger and didn't get it until her son said "I got to rides around and Grandpa bought me one like my toy."

"Mr. Zachara, what did you buy our son?" she asked the man, thinking that she had the wrong idea, or that Antonio did. Taking a sip of the tea the waiter had just dropped off, she tried to calm down her imagination that was running riot since the hotel lobby.

"I thought since liked the Veyron so much, I would get him one." said the man smiling at her.

"Oh my god are you crazy." she said staring at the man. "Please, dear god in heaven, tell me you didn't buy a three year old a car that cost almost two million dollars."

John saw her face then his father's eyes and said "What did you really do, Dad."

"I bought my daughter a two million dollar car." he said then saw Georgie's expression of relief and dropped the rest of the bombshell on her. "I bought my grandson the electric version for him to drive at the toy store. It's great, for almost ten percent of what I paid for Claudia's, I bought a safer version and its perfect for the riding ring at the house."

Looking between her son and John's father, Georgie buried her face in her hands, who in their right mind paid more for a kids toy car than most people paid for their houses, heck more than she had paid for her house.

Anthony gave a slight laugh and said "I know its a bit over the top, but I have three years worth of holidays to make up for, I promise I won't do it again. Oh, while we were at the dealership, John, I arranged for a tour of the Pagani factory in MODENA, I was thinking I could spend the day getting to know Georgie while you take your son there."

Georgie looked at John, then saw Antonio's excited face and said "I think that is a great idea. What about you dad?"

"As long as I don't have to buy him one." he said looking at his father with a glare. "You made me earn my first car."

"You are my son, Antonio is my grandson, it is a totally different situation and you had better lose that attitude or I will take Georgie out tomorrow and spoil her rotten, that would really get your goat, wouldn't it. Ms. Jones, your son and I sent a present for you to the hotel, I hope you enjoy it."

"The polar bear was lovely. Did you help your grandfather pick it out?" Georgie asked her little boy who was pretty quiet.

"Yup." said the toddler as he suddenly yawned. "Mommy, can you carry me I's tired."

John took the napkin, wiped away the dessert, then lifted his son to his shoulder and said "I will take him back to the hotel. Dad, can you give Georgie a lift back when she finishes her lunch."

"Wait, you haven't had anything to eat either." she pointed out.

Feeling the suddenly slackness that indicated their son was already asleep, John said "I will get some room service. Dad, talk to Georgie about Sophie, I think she might know something."

Alone Georgie looked at the man and said "I uh, I just wanted to say, thank you for today with Antonio."

"No, I should be thanking you, and apologizing. If I had come to Italy, John and you wouldn't have been parted." he replied sadly. "I know that there are some problems, but give him a chance. He is a bit obvious about some things, but he truly does love you and your little boy."

Georgie said "I know, I love him too."

"And I promise I will ask for now on before a big purchase like that for Antonio. He was just so excited and talking about riding around with someone named Jake. I just had to buy it. Now on to less pleasant business. I would guess you had a run in with Sophie Valenti."

"A bit of one, but I did bait her to see what she would do." she admitted.

"The staff was gossiping about it and how Ms. Valenti seemed to think she was on the fast track to become my daughter in law. I don't think John has ever given her more than two minutes in regards to anything other than business. I won't have someone working for us who feels a sense of entitlement when it comes to my children."

Georgie looked at the man and got past her jealousy regarding the other woman. "I can't believe I am saying this, but I don't think she should be fired. I think that when she gets it through her head that she has no chance, things will be fine. The hotel is wonderful, the staff fabulous, can't you just give her a warning?"

"Why when she treated you the way she did yesterday would you stick up for her?" he asked intrigued.

"Separating the personal from the business, she is good at the hotel side of things, personally I would like to smack her into next week." she said with a shrug. "Let her do her job, but remind her that John's social life isn't part of her responsibilities."

"Okay, I will talk to her." he said liking that she could separate things, It would be handy for later on when dealing with things. "So, before we head back. I have a question for you, is my son pressuring you?"

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks to all who have been reviewing. This was written so that I didn't have to deal with the story on screen. As a mother of a three year old, what GH is doing and why they are doing it is just pathetic. Now on to my comments.

There will be more on the Skye/Carly friendship, tossing Claudia and Brenda in there as well. BTW, right now, I am having serious Carly hate, so please imagine Tamara Braun or even Kelley Hensley in the role.

There will be no Jaxxie romantic relationship, I was a bit surprised when some of you thought I was going there, then reread my scenes with them. While it won't happen here, I might mess with that at a later date in another story. Jax is going to be with Skye, while Dante will end up with Maxie.

Those cars I wrote about, they do exist. We saw one at Neiman Marcus a few years ago, almost fifty thousand for a toy car that was a copy of a Vette. The real Italian Supercars I wrote about, the Pagani Zonda and the Bugatti Veyron really exist and are frequently featured on my husbands newest fav show Top Gear on BBC.

Now, on with the next chapter.

Chapter Six

Georgie looked at the old man in front of her, she could see that he was serious but had no intention of discussing her relationship with his son. "Sir, while I appreciate that you are here, trying to get to know me, what is between John and I, is just that, between us."

"I get that, I just know that John tends to be single-minded about things, I also know that my son has shown more emotion during the last week or so than he had in the last four years." he told her somberly. "Claudia insisted that there was more to it than losing his mother, I thought she was wrong. I wish I had challenged him about it."

Georgie took a sip of her sweet tea, then said "Like John and I, you can't change the past. Can I ask you a question?"

Seeing her expression, the curious cross between anger and fear, he said "Of course."

"Why on earth would John believe you were so angry with him after his mother's death that he would flee the country? What did you say that broke him so badly." she asked giving him a fierce glare. "It makes no sense."

"I honestly didn't mean to hurt my son." Anthony's mind went back to the day Maria was found on the side of the road and said "When my wife slipped into a coma, John overheard me talking to this doctor, a specialist in Internal medicine. He was unaware that his mother was having some medical problems, we had kept it from the kids."

Sighing in regret, he continued. "John overheard something that day that led him to believe I blamed him for her running out of gas on the road. I didn't, but I knew something was festering underneath his skin. I was so consumed by my grief, so lost, I never found the courage to talk to him about it. When Maria woke up, it was like the last nine months had never happened. We had never discussed it."

"Your wife didn't want to know what had gone on while she was unconscious?" she asked doubting that one.

"She did, but I kept putting off answering her. I was ashamed of my actions and the children were trying to protect her from hearing about how we had fallen apart. The morning I woke up with Maria, her feet were cold; I turned over to tease her..."

"Sir, you don't have to tell me." Georgie felt horrible when she saw him wiping away a tear.

"NO, no, its fine, I think it might help you understand John a bit." he said then reached out for the hand on the table. Clasping it he continued. "She was cold to the touch, I knew, I just knew she was gone. I fell in love with my wife almost the moment I met her. Even today, I feel her, here."

When she felt his heart beat, she found herself wanting to cry. "No, don't cry. I know that someday I will be lucky enough to rejoin her. I also know that in my grief, I hurt my son. Claudia was tough; she seemed almost resigned to her mother's death. John, I think took it harder. He came into the bedroom when the ambulance arrived, to convince me to leave... I yelled at him. Even to this day, I don't recall what was exactly said though; I don't think my son has ever forgotten."

"He hasn't." she said.

"When John came back from Italy, he was angry, cold. We boxed around each other, not really saying what needed to be said until my daughter pushed it. Then after we had what I had thought at the time was a very honest talk, John took a quick trip back to Italy, then returned home. Different."

"I don't understand." she said confused.

"John went to Italy in May full of anger and pain, but you could see it, came home shut down. He was cold, disconnected. He uh, he got involved with this woman we worked with on occasion. Later I overheard her complaining to Claudia about him. She had always made it plain she was interested. Suddenly he took her up on her offer. I think she was convinced she had finally got what she wanted; John went to our casino in Vegas. Came home, I guess it was their second meeting or whatever..."

Anthony had almost skipped telling Georgie this part but he got the idea it might help her understand why John had done what he had. "It was ugly. She led him to think it was a dinner date, he arrived at the restaurant and she was having a party. Tried to introduce him as her boyfriend, he publicly flayed her. John walked out after making it very clear to all there that he was only using her for sex."

With a sigh he continued. "There was this sense of invulnerability to him. He was ice cold, and then he started to feel sick. At the time I was glad, it sounds nuts but until he threw up that day in the boardroom, I had begun to worry about his mental state."

"He told me, I think he was suffering my morning sickness and such." she said lamely. "I was remarkably healthy during my pregnancy and had an extremely easy birth."

"I have heard of sympathy pains." he replied. "A couple of the specialists we called in said that if he was a woman they would had diagnosed him as being pregnant."

"I know, I also know about the Doctor/stalker woman he slept with the night I was giving birth to our son." she said only slightly less bitter. While she was dealing with his having been engaged to 'Luna', that was the one that truly felt like acid being dumped on her heart.

"Maybe you had better tell me." he said then hearing her unwillingness at first, he thought back to that blond woman, then why John had been at the hospital that day. Mentally cursing as he got what was causing most of the problems with the younger couple, he tried to think what Maria would have done if they had been in that situation.

Grimacing because his hot headed wife would have removed his gentleman's sausage, he found himself feeling bad for both of them. This was one that only time would heal, time and John helping Georgie heal. "Why don't we head back? I am not as young as I used to be and honestly driving that car my daughter wanted, gave me a rush I haven't felt in years."

Georgie stood then went to pay the check only for Anthony to laugh. "Georgie stop, the gentleman looking uncomfortable in that three piece suit; it is his job to take care of things like that. He is my valet, my driver and most importantly my money handler. I discovered years ago, I don't have the patience for waiting in lines. Marie took care of it when she was alive, then I talked Thomas into working for me when John came home."

When they arrived back at the hotel, Georgie used the key that Anthony had given her to let herself into the suite. John was reading one of Antonio's books while their son was fast asleep on the matching sofa, she put down the card and her purse onto the table in front of him.

Looking up, he was surprised when Georgie leaned down and kissed him before taking the book away she said "How long did you have to read to him?"

"I didn't." he said then admitted. "I saw how worn this book was and figured out it was one of his favorites. I wanted to know what it was about."

Looking over at a sleeping Antonio, she said "Sorry about this."

"Sorry about what?" he asked only to smile when she curled up next to him and laid her head down on his lap. "Are we a bit tired?"

"Yes, plus I ache, I did when I woke up this morning. I feel like I ran a marathon last night, or like we went a lot further than we really did." she said then yawning started to fall asleep.

"We could move this to bedroom, you could stretch out and be a whole lot more comfortable." he offered only to hear her sort of muffled no as she answered him on her way to dreamland. "Not fair, I was the one you kept up all night. Literally."

Easing out from underneath her, he tucked one of the pillows from the chair beneath her head. Checked the door lock then turned off both of their cell phones before moving back to the sofa. Soon joining her in a nap, John's last thought before falling asleep was that he could get very used to this.

Back in Port Charles, Claudia smirked at the man she saw talking to Jasper Jacks. Waiting until the tall Aussie had left; she walked up, slapped the man across the face and said "Well, well, Mr. Craig. How nice to see you again, you slimy piece of crap."

The well dressed man winced then said "Ms. Zachara, how are you? How long has it been, a couple of months?"

"You know damn well how long it has been. You were committing industrial espionage for the Jacks Corporation. I can't believe that you thought you would get away with it." she fumed as she recalled how angry she had been."

"Well darlin, I hate to disappoint you, but Jax had already made a bid on that project, long before the two of us enjoyed carnal knowledge of one another. Now be nice, I came to Port Charles, to help you out. Well, Jax and I will tell you what I know, for old time's sake." he said his eyes traveling down the length of her very attractive body.

"There is nothing you could say that would interest me." she said scornfully.

"Really, then you won't care that Laura Spencer has teamed up with Ric Lansing, possibly the sleaziest attorney in town next to her ex-husband Scott Baldwin." he said starting to walk away until he felt her hand grip his arm tightly. Turning he said "Laura had her current husband Luke Spencer committed, she now has ownership of the Haunted Star and has put it up on the auction block, along with his half of the diner here in town."

"Why would she do that?" asked Claudia. "Why would Lansing be interested in helping her?"

"Simple, she has defunct ownership papers for half of Deception Cosmetics; she used them to get a loan from the bank a few years ago, mainly on the building that was its headquarters. The company also owns the patent for something called lip plumper. When Lucy Coe and she closed the company down, it was worthless but now, Jax Enterprises has a use for it. Laura wants to buy the Coe women out before she gets word."

"Why would this interest me, we have no interest in that area." she said giving him a top lofty smirk.

"The Deception building, its the one right next to where you broke ground on the casino you no longer have any use for." he offered up. Claudia stopped yet again from walking away as she finally got what he was trying to say. "Thank you, James. Now I would appreciate it if you would tell me why you are suddenly offering up your help."

"I used to be engaged to Bobbie Spencer, her sister-in-law. I left town under terrible circumstances and I owe her. One hand washes the other; you got my help, now I want you to help Bobbie. If Sonny Corinthos tries to buy into the diner, I need you to stop him." he replied.

"Corinthos, he is a restaurateur, why would he be interested in a diner more noted for food poisoning than anything else." she asked then it hit her. "Rumors, there are rumors he is interested in opening up a line of coffee shops. Sort of Sonnybucks."

"Plus he wanted Carly Alcazar when she was engaged to AJ Quartermaine, the blond who seduced the man. It was his sister." he told her.

"My you are just a fountain of information." she replied then stated. "Why didn't you ask your brother to help out your ex-fiancee?"

"Bobbie would refuse it. You have a connection to your brother's girl friend that you can use as an excuse. Georgie Jones used to work there until she bitch slapped Lulu Spencer into next week while they were still in high school." Seeing her eyes narrowing he added "It isn't quite the secret you think it is. You should be worried because all the terrible things Lulu has done over the years to the Jones girls, it goes back to Laura's loathing for three women. Her sister in law, Bobbie who is their Aunt, their biological mother Felicia and Alexis Davis."

Thinking on what the bartender had told her brother about Lulu and that incident, she decided to go home and take a look at the notes he had made after talking to the owner of Jake's. Make sure that there wasn't anything else they missed. Small town gossip was always important when you were doing business with the people.

Ignoring James Craig, she hurried home, finding John's notes. Grateful for her brother's neat script she read through everything, including her old school pal Skye's connection to the Spencer family. Gagging a bit at finding out she had slept with Luke Spencer while drunk, and how Laura had attacked her publicly over it. Finally she found the hidden gem, smiling as she went online and looked at the photo; Claudia let out a little chuckle then made a call.

"Jax, we need to talk about some business." When the Aussie showed up, she said down and said "If you will contact this Lucy Coe, I will help save this diner from Corinthos."

"I already contact Lucy through my ex-girlfriend Brenda Barrett who used to model for her. Lucy agreed to sell her half to me. I have also spiked the sale of the boat for a bit, so that Laura can't buy her shares back from the bank."

"How is the bank involved, rather how much is it involved for?"

"Laura put up all of her shares a few years ago, the building is the only thing worth anything. I am looking into which of my employees leaked the top secret information about the research and development news. I gather you want the building, what about the formula?"

"You can have it. I want the property next to our construction site. You might want to check into a man by the man of James Craig, he seems to always be-"

Jax sighed and interrupted. "If this is about the Canadian deal, we really did have it already in the bag. James by the way, is a name my brother uses when he travels. He mentioned being involved with you at one point. I am sorry but I stopped apologizing for his womanizing ways a long time ago. He is what he is."

Looking at Jax as he simply shrugged who his brother was off, she said "I don't want an apology. I did believe he went after my business secrets, however I have never known you to deal from the bottom of the deck, so I had my doubts as to the why."

Jax nodded, then said "Do you want me to have Alexis draw up the papers or would you prefer a different attorney since Alexis and I are old friends?"

"No, that is fine. I trust Diane and her." she replied. "I do have to ask, does your friend know of your interest in her daughter?"

Jax looked at her thinking she was nuts for a second then he got what she was going on about.

"Maxie and I understand each other. There is nothing more to it." he replied. Then saw her concern. "If you did any research into Lulu Spencer you know that she literally lives for her mother's approval, craves it, will do anything to get it."

"Yes, until she met this Logan Hayes." she answered rather grateful for the blond Texan whose relationship with Lulu was why the Spencer family couldn't sue them for breach of promise.

"That was a shock, to a lot of people, for a lot of reasons." Jax stood then walked over to the window. "Lulu had lied to her mother, told her that she had been assured prom queen was in the bag. Laura went out, bought this overly elaborate dress for a seventeen year old. When the court was announced before the big dance, Lulu was one of the nominees, but so were both of the Jones girls. Most figured Maxie would be the winner of the two sisters, including Lulu."

"Why not just tell her mother the truth?" asked Claudia. She had no knowledge of this stuff, she had attended a local girls school, at her own request from the time she was fourteen. "Why do what she did to Maxie?"

"Lulu might not have expected him to do it, she did only ask him to help her make it look true. Too bad this Kyle kid had his own issues after a run in with Mac Scorpio while drunk driving. Maxie was so excited to be his date, they were to go out to dinner, instead he made a big deal of telling her he had cooked them dinner at his house."

"He drugged her?" asked the Italian started to get the big picture.

"Yes, but there was no proof, most people believed Maxie, but it didn't change anything. There were still films of her on the Internet. I didn't find out about how bad it was until I overheard Lucas Jones and Dillon Hornsby talking."

"And yet I gather that things still went wrong for Lulu?" Claudia had no real feelings outside of business regarding the blond before meeting her brother's lady but now she would like nothing more than to rip the blond hairs out of the girl's head.

"Yes, Georgie, who had skipped a couple of grades over the years, wasn't loud or as forward as the two blonds, but she had made a lot of friends over the years with some very diverse groups. They were at the dance, Georgie with Dillon and Lulu with some young man her mother had told her to ask because she said he was the perfect foil for her blondness. Laura's words by the way in the police report when this was investigated."

"What happened next?" She couldn't help being fascinated by this story, it sounded so Lifetime Movie to her.

"I was there, with Alexis, Mac couldn't chaperone and Alexis used emotional blackmail to get my help. They invited the court up, one by one. I can still recall how loud and wild it was. There were two other girls, one Brook Ashton wearing this gothic black number and her mother and Tracy being furious."

"Scott Baldwin's daughter Serena was next. Serena was this shy and quiet girl who was friendly with Georgie. She had on this sort of hoop number in blue. Then Lulu who was wearing like I said this white strapless number shot through with sequins and her hair was pulled up like she was expecting the crown."

"When they called Georgie's name, I saw Lulu's face. She was pissed when there was a larger response to her name than to Lulu's. Finally they called out Maxie's. There was an announcement that if Maxie wasn't there and her name was on the sheet of paper the award would go to the first runner up." said Jax feeling sad at what happened next.

"The entire Spencer family was there, Lucky with a camera, taping things, Laura talking to a reporter she had invited. Lulu was vying for the Miss Port Charles title with Maxie yet again in a few weeks and Laura had been buttering up the press who had a vote. The Principal announced that Maxie's absence didn't matter that she hadn't won. I could see Georgie felt bad for her sister but then she almost passed out when the man said that the winner was Georgianna Jones. Though, being called by her full name seemed to revive her."

"I gather the Spencers didn't react very well." she said dryly.

"That would be wrong. Luke alienated his wife that night by clapping and whooping it up then telling his daughter not to be so upset, that she was still in the court. His kid, well Lucky always was a bit of an oddball, he just stopped taping and told his mother he had a date, then left."

"What about Lulu?" she asked certain the girl had to have gone ballistic.

"She just stood there, stunned watching the crown being lowered on an astonished Georgie's head. Alexis was moaning that she had wished she had thought to bring a camera; I was using my cell phone when things went insane. Laura charged the stage then demanded a recount of the votes and proceeded to make an ass of herself as she screamed she wanted the crown. Georgie was a class act though, she just hugged the other two who had lost, then tried to do the same to Lulu when Laura caught up to her and ripped the crown off her head."

"What?" asked Claudia laughing in spite of herself as she pictured this in her head.

"Oh yes, she was hauled off by security. Georgie however was understanding and when people tried to shun Lulu for her mother's actions, she insisted on Dillon dancing with the girl while she danced with the boy who had been crowned king. I don't remember his name, just lots of girls squealing when he won." Jax shook his head.

"Then there were a group of boys off in the corner, Alexis and I thought they were watching a porno and she confiscated it but not before they destroyed access." Jax felt sick as he recalled the whispers and then the laughter in the dark corners of the ballroom.

"What a way to learn what was going on." said Claudia feeling bad for all involved.

"By that time, there were rumors, then Kyle showed up half drunk, demanding his money from Lulu saying he had done what she had asked him to do." he told her. "When she sobbed that it hadn't been enough, that she should have had him take care of Georgie, not Maxie. Georgie found out what was going on from Lucas who had heard about it from a couple of the guys. They found Maxie at the boy's house, there weren't enough of the drugs in her system to press charges. He was charged with a misdemeanor but since that day, Maxie has had mainly a whole lot of first dates."

"What, that was high school, wasn't it?" she demanded. "Why would she give this young man so much power over her?"

"Jason Morgan and I had our computer experts get it off the Internet, Edward Q as well. But there are still people who remember and then there is Lucky Spencer. Maxie had a crush on him while she was a teenager. This part goes no further than us." he said while looking down. "Not even her sister knows."

"What did Spencer do?" she asked.

"Maxie went off to college; Georgie went to college here for couple of years until Dillon fell for Lulu's supposed charms and ended up in her bed. When Georgie went off to school in Italy as a senior, Maxie had finished design school. She had worked for a designer and had done some parts modeling to save up the money to own her own shop. Add that to what she inherited from her biological grandparents and she was able to do so. Lucky came sniffing around, she fell for his lies."

"And ended up dating him?" she asked a bit surprised.

"Worse, Lucky was a cop at the time, Maxie had no idea of his drug habit and had been leaving him alone in her shop. He was fired from the department when word got out he was using other people's credit card numbers to scam money and support his drug habit. When the State Police tracked down the credit cards, the only store all of them had in common."

"Was Buttons and Bows?" she said sadly. "Was he sleeping with her as well?"

"Yes that is the part that she doesn't want anyone to know. She had finally given in to his pressure. When he got clean, he apologized, he even paid back restitution, but it did a number on her reputation."

"He is an ass." she said frowning a more. "I am shocked her father didn't run him out of town."

"Mac was asked not to by Maxie. She feels partially at fault. She has no confidence, none. I will say in all honesty, if she was about five years older, I would date her. She is a very lovely, intelligent young lady. But she is still barely 25 and I am over forty. Too much of an age gap."

"If you have feelings for her, why not try?" she asked thinking her parents had been almost that many years apart.

"Too much life experience." he replied ruefully. "Besides, until Skye slept with Luke we were working on something, something I would like to explore more of. When she made it clear she wasn't going to date for a year while she got sober, I backed off. A year is up in twelve days."

"You dog." she exclaimed. "You do know she thinks you only want to be friends, don't you?"

"Yes, I let her think that, for her emotional, mental and physical well being. I made a point of dating a lot of high profile women to get her to relax around me. Thankfully the high maintenance dating is over." he replied with a grin. "Maxie might not be too happy, since I have been spending a lot of money to keep them happy."

"What about Maxie, are you going to keep flirting with her?" she asked her eyes narrowing.

"Maxie and my flirting is nothing, we both know it, so yes, and I am going to unless Skye objects. However Morgan has been maneuvering Dante into her purview, mainly at the request of the man." Jax wasn't so sure about the detective, mainly because he really was a bit too quiet.

"I wonder if that is why he refused to let me hire him the other day." she murmured. "He said he was friends with the two sisters."

"He is, now I have a question for you." he asked his arms crossing and a glare turning up on his face. "Is your brother the man that abandoned Georgie in Italy? Got her pregnant and fled?"

Seeing the ice in his eyes, she said "Yes but it wasn't on purpose. Neither had really confided in me, but they are together right now. Trying to get this straightened out."

"Good, because Georgie has not been the same since she returned. Alexis had her suspicions and went to her nephew Nik to have John researched, I believe Maxie did the same with Dante, hell I am surprised Robin didn't call in the WSB on him." he replied then gave her an innocent expression when he saw her confusion and surprise.

"Oh, you didn't know, Robin's father and mother are agents. Your poor brother should be very glad that Georgie threatened to disown anyone that said so much as a bad word about John/Giovanni over the years. She let them look for him, but refused to have him hunted down like a dog. From what I hear he still hasn't talked to her father. That should be entertaining."

"I would imagine so; I would guess the conversation takes place in a jail cell. He quite expects it." she told him.

"If he is lucky that is where it takes place. Mac Scorpio was a former Australian Marine Special forces officer. Did most of his training with the Brits." he informed her cheerfully. "So that you know, they are the Aussie version of the Delta Force."

"You don't have to sound so happy about it." she grumbled then joined him when he started to laugh. "Well maybe you do. At least I know that he won't kill him, John loves Georgie and now that he has met Antonio, I guarantee he loves his son."

In Italy, Georgie was cutting up Antonio's hamburger while waiting for her salad. Hearing the conversation between John, their son and his father, she looked up and said "I have a few places I want to see that I loved when we were here before, especially the gardens."

"No, wait; I want us to take Antonio there." John protested.

"Looks like we have to go with my plan." said the older Italian looking at her. "You are making it seem like shopping with me is a punishment."

"Any shopping qualifies." she muttered darkly. "I quite happy to spend the day with you, I would just prefer leaving stores out of it."

"La , la vostra insalata è pronta(Miss your salad is ready.) Georgie sat back and let him place her plate in front of her then watched as John and Antonio were then served. The foursome ate, well aware that the staff was keeping a close eye on them worried about their being disappointed.

"Claudia should receive her car by the end of the week." said Anthony, "I am going to have the toy version shipped home as well. Have the two of you thought about where you are going to live when you return."

"My house, at least, I sort of thought so." she said looking at John with uncertainty. "Um, it's large enough."

"Georgie is right, her place is large enough." he said a bit uncomfortable with the subject. He had never really thought about it, but he wasn't sure that staying at her house was a permanent solution. While it was fine for now, eventually they would outgrow it. Yet he knew that Georgie loved her place.

Anthony let it go, knowing that it was one of the many things that the two of them would have to figure out for themselves. Dinner was quiet; Antonio was enjoying the hamburger and fries while Georgie was thinking on their plans for the next day. And none wanted the staff overhearing them discussing anything truly personal.

"Posso portare sopra il carrello del dessert?" (May I bring over the dessert cart?) offered the waiter only for Georgie to decline and the two men to agree with her.

John was helping his son get out of his chair when Antonio asked his mom if that meant they could watch his newest movie together. "How about we have a little lessons time first, then a bath before you watch your movie."

Kissing Georgie on the cheek, John let her know that they had some work to do. Anthony repeated the kiss, then said goodnight to his grandson who was excited about his new movie. When the four of them arrived at the office, John stopped then looked to see if Sophie was there yet. When he saw she wasn't, he grabbed his phone and ordered her to join him in the main office.

"Georgie, John and I need to speak to Sophie before she heads into the casino for the evening." Anthony told her, and then smiled as mother and son walked away holding hands. His heart skipping a beat in memory of having seen Marie and John in a similar pose over the years, he turned to his son to tell him and saw the lust on his son's face and smacked him upside the head.

"Ouch. What was that for?" John asked glaring at his father while rubbing the sting from the smack on his head.

"That was not an appropriate way to be looking at the mother of your children." he said feeling a bit protective of the young woman.

"Father, those impure thoughts are why she is the mother of my son and any future children. And don't you feel a bit hypocritical when Claudia and I were well aware that you and our mother had sex more than twice in your life." he replied.

Hearing the sound of heels coming their way, Anthony said "We will discuss this later. And John, there will be a discussion about respecting her."

Groaning and not wanting to be dealing with any of this, John glared at his father then switched that glare on the woman who came in with a large smile on her face. That faded quickly when she saw Anthony first then John's crossed arms as he ordered her to sit down. "You seem to be laboring under a misunderstanding regarding my interest in our Casino and hotel here. I won't tell you the real reason I have been spending all this time here; however I will tell you that you nor this very small cog in our company had nothing to do with it."

Sophie stuttered for a moment then she answered. "I never said that."

"So, you are calling my fiancée a liar?" he asked coolly while watching her. "Sophie you have done well at your job; however your ambitions are overreaching your abilities."

"Look, she came to me, accused me of being interested." she protested. "I never went to her."

"Georgie never denied talking to you about this, nor about approaching you first. She just had a better eye on the situation then I did. I never had any clue that you believed my returning here was out of interest with you." John had no idea, none about any of this and wished he had figured it out long ago.

"Sophie, you aren't being fired. You are being warned off. My son wants you gone; Georgie was the one who thought we should keep you on. She feels that you were laboring under a misunderstanding and that this will put an end to it." The hotel manager felt embarrassed as she looked between father and son, then out the window.

"It will be. I wouldn't ever want to be accused chasing after a man who has no interest in me." Sophie stiffly answered before asking "Is that all or should I return to work."

"I would like a tour of the gaming floor." Anthony said then when his son had left looked at the dark haired woman. "Let's make this very clear, you are ambitious, I don't mind that in an employee, I encourage it. I will be watching, keeping a closer eye on you. One wrong move, you will be replaced."

Anthony went up to his suite, made a few calls then headed off to bed looking forward to getting to know Georgie. In the larger suite down the hall, John joined his family while watching cartoons until Antonio went to sleep. Carrying him into the secondary bedroom then placing the pillows so they surrounded him, he returned to where Georgie was putting away the equipment.

"Are you up for some talking?" he asked then handed her a glass of the wine and poured himself one. Once they were seated he said "Sophie was dealt with."

""That's good, for both of your sakes, John. If she was waiting around for you, that isn't good for either of you." she replied then yawned a bit before saying. "What happened last night?"

"You really don't remember last night do you?" he asked amused. "What were you dreaming?"

Flushing a bit, then her eyes widened as she asked "Did I oh my god, did I molest you?"

"I don't think I can say that, considering I was more than willing to let you molest me." he replied slowly. "My only complaint was that it stopped a bit soon."

"I am so sorry, then I accused you, John, why didn't you say something?" she said then saw his grin and smacked his arm. "Stop that; I can see the little hamster turning the wheel in your head."

As they talked, Georgie felt the past slipping away as they discussed what John had planned for the next day, what he was sure his father had planned and what they were going to do with the toy car that was so expensive. When Georgie yawned, John told her he would stay with Antonio. "You could stay with me."

With a sigh, he walked her to the other bedroom, kissed her senseless, then pulled back. "No, I can't. You need your sleep and when we finally take this all the way, it won't be on a day my father intends to drag you all over town. He is already lecturing me about lusting after you."

"He objected to you and me." Georgie was a bit surprised; she had thought Anthony would have been happy that John and she were working things out.

"No, he wasn't happy that I was watching you walk away with Antonio and was admiring the view." he said his voice slightly strangled as what he had been thinking before coming back in vivid color. "My parents liked to pretend that they only had sex twice in their lives."

Laughing at the look of disgust on John's face, she said "Okay, then I will see you in the morning. Are you sure you will be fine with Antonio?"

"We will be fine." he said then went to where his son was sleeping. Removing his tie, then tossing his suit on the chair, climbing into bed wearing just his briefs and t-shirt falling asleep forgetting to set the alarm. He woke up when the toddler got up and went to the bathroom. Falling back to sleep when Antonio curled up on his hand and wiggled a bit before his breathing evened out.

It was early the next morning when Georgie woke up feeling refreshed, between the wonderful dreams she had had and not being in mommy mode. Looking down at the slip that had had John hot and bothered the day before, she stretched went to check on her family.

Seeing Antonio's face squished up against his father, she smiled then grabbed some clothes before heading off to shower. She should have stuck around, as Antonio woke up then rubbed up against his father's rather bristly face. Giggling a bit, he went to the living room and heard the phone ringing.

Seeing his Mommy's purse, he saw the phone halfway out. When it stopped ringing, he was heading back to where Daddy was sleeping, bringing the purse along with him. Setting the purse down on the bed, and then climbing up himself, he looked through the bag for Aunt Maxie's bag of magic tricks.

Not seeing it at first, he saw that Mommy's was at the bottom of the bag. Pulling it out, he saw it wasn't closed and poured everything on the bed. Reaching out he took Mommy's pencil and drew on daddy like Aunt Maxie did him. When Daddy only turned towards him, Antonio saw the one that looked his crayons and used them like his aunt had.

Georgie was coming back to wake up John when she heard the buzz of the doorbell. Letting in Anthony she said "Good morning, you are just in time, I arranged for breakfast to be brought up on a few minutes. Now I have to go and wake up the lazybones."

Heading to the bedroom, she stopped at the threshold, and then started to giggle. Waving her hand at the older man until he joined her, she could only point towards the bed. The Italian saw the rather interesting tableau and then saw Georgie reaching down to grab her cell phone which was now on the middle of the floor for some reason, then snapping a picture.

"Antonio here, come to Mommy." she said after handing his grandfather the phone. Lifting the little boy off the bed, she handed him off to his grandfather before giggling as she shook John awake. "John, John, wake up."

"Umm, this is nice." When his face went into the pillow, Georgie reached down and smacked at John's shoulder. "Wake up, smiley face."

Rolling onto his back, he looked up and saw Georgie's amused expression. "Wait, did I oversleep, where is Antonio?"

"Our son is in the living room with your dad." Reaching over, she picked up the compact from her purse, opened it and said "I thought it might be safer that way."

"Why?" he asked yawning then feeling like his face was cracking. "Did I roll over onto him?"

"No, but you might want to." she said in a strained tone as she gave him the mirror. John looked at it, then her before holding it up. Yelping he whimpered as he saw the strange markings all over his face, the lipstick smile that surrounded his lips and a nose that strongly resembled a certain holiday reindeer. "Antonio woke up before you did."

Jumping up off the bed, he went to the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth while Georgie quickly went to the other bedroom and grabbed her small bag. Returning to where John was scrubbing away, she giggled yet again then pulled out the small white container and said "Here, sit down."

John sat on the toilet, letting Georgie rub the white gunk on his face then couldn't resist asking. "Why did he do this?"

"Blame Maxie." she said then told him to stop talking for just a moment. Georgie then got the washcloth warm before wiping away all of the makeup. "I do have to say, you look very nice wearing my lipstick."

Removing the washcloth from her hands, John tossed it towards the sink then yanked Georgie down onto his lap. "The only way I want to be wearing your lipstick is if I kiss it off, like this."

As his lips claimed her, John eased his hand up into the curls at the back of Georgie's neck deepening the kiss. They kept it up until the sound of giggling and the patter of little feet fleeing forced them to pull apart. Breathing heavily, John said "We had better join them, before my father comes to find us."

When Georgie entered the living room, composed with her clothes now in order, grandfather and grandson were eating breakfast. "Mommy, I's told grandpa that you wars busy. Can I have a nanna?"

"Yes, monkey, you can have a banana." she said then sat down next to him. Finding her omelet, she asked "Are you excited to go and see the cars?"

"I arranged for a car." said John coming in a few minutes later. Seeing Georgie's expression, he said "Yes, the kind of car you are thinking about and for a safety seat."

By the time the maid staff came to clean the room, Georgie and Anthony head already left one store and father and son were well on their way to the car capital of the world. "What on earth?"

The stiffly dressed maid pulled off the pillowcase, and then found the make up pencil between the bed sheets. "The rich certainly are different, what could have caused this?"

"Who knows, who cares." Said the other woman while giving a shrug. "I want to get this floor done early then head down to market, those delivery drivers should be bringing in the second load this afternoon."

"You chase after men too much." Retorted the other then heard the knock on the door. Opening it, she looked at the blond and said "Mr. Zachara isn't here right now. I would check back later."

"I prefer to wait." Said the woman as she went to sit on the sofa.

"I am sorry miss, but hospital policy doesn't allow us to let you remain in a room that isn't yours." She picked up the phone to call the manager. Telling her boss what was going on, then looking over at the woman said "Yes ma'am."

Hanging up, she looked at the other maid and said "We are to remain until security arrives."

The blond shrugged, she needed to speak to John and couldn't put this off any longer. When the guard arrived she waited until the maids had left then said "I need to speak to my fiancée and this interference with our personal life is going to cost you your job."

"Yeah, right. I have seen Mr. Zachara's fiancée with their son and you are most definitely not her." Replied the senior guard.

Taking out her magazine to show him the picture taken for the article at the Metrocourt, she was about to show it to him when what he said sunk in. Lulu stiffened then looked at the man and said "What on earth are you talking about, John doesn't have any children."

"Then what are those toys in that basket over there?" he asked pointing across the room. Lulu stood and walked over to the square woven basket and looked through the match box cars and had the feeling she had seen them before. Just figuring that they reminded her of the ones that Carly's kids had, she sat back down and read the article announcing her defunct engagement.

When the dark haired woman knocked on the door and was let in, she looked at her security guard and said "Thank you for staying. May I help you?"

"My name is Lulu Spencer, here, proof that your people are so incompetent that they don't know what they are speaking about." Thrusting the magazine at her, she then demanded to know where John was.

"Mr. Zachara went for a drive with his son, his father and his fiancée left about the same time." She informed the other woman. While she loathed Georgie Jones for what had happened the night before, she was well aware of the ruthlessness of Anthony Zachara and would do nothing to get herself fired. "I have no idea what this article is about, but I have met with Mr. Zachara and the woman he introduced as his fiancée, and you aren't her."

Lulu needed John's help, without it, her plan wouldn't work but at the same time was well aware that with his money he could squash her like a bug so she sat back down and said "I will be staying until he returns. You can take your guard with you."

"The lobby is rather nice, I think you might want to take a stroll around and admire our originals by the various Renaissance artists. You will not be remaining in this suite." She said baring her teeth. Lulu looked around then asked to use the bathroom.

"Fine but then we are heading down to the lobby." Said Sophie. Lulu went straight to the bathroom and found the makeup bag, looking for prescriptions; she was a bit disappointed to find none. Then seeing the cosmetics on the counter frowned. They were limited market products for Jax Enterprises. Who on earth would John know that Jasper Jacks would trust with his company secrets?

Now down in the lobby, she paced back and forth ordered some food and generally annoyed the staff as the day passed by without John showing up.

In Verona, Georgie turned the tides on Anthony and had convinced him to just window shop. She called John to check on the two of them and missed seeing Anthony handing his credit card over to the sales clerk who grinned and wrote down she would handle delivery.

"How are John and my grandson doing?" he asked as they went to the next store. Not finding anything they had soon shopped until it was lunch time. After a traditional three hour lunch Georgie was a bit sleepy when she climbed into the limo with him.

"Now it's your turn my dear." Said Anthony. "Where do you want to go…" Hearing no response, he looked at the right side of the limo and chuckled when he saw she was fast asleep with her head resting against the window. Turning to Thomas he asked. "How long until my son was to return?"

"Mr. John called at lunch sir, he said about two more hours' sir." Giving the man orders to find a place to eat that was half way between where they were and where John was, he sat back and thought about his plans. Next up, talking the two of them into buying a place that wasn't Georgie's nor a place that was John's but a place that belonged to the two of them.

Picking up his phone, he called his architect and then told the man he was of no use. "Six months, six months to build, that is way too long."

Trying his favorite realtor he was about to make the request then said "I will get to you with my requirements, for now, I want any new listings on the outskirts of town with more than four bedrooms flagged for my attention."

John looked at his sleeping son and thought back to their day. Between arriving at the Pagani factory and admiring the town created by Enzo Ferrarri, they had talked. Or rather Antonio had talked and asked questions, all John had gotten to do was answer them but it had given him a better understanding of his son.

His son… those words alone still had the power to shock him. He had a son; a little boy that was a combination of both Georgie and him. His lips twitching as he recalled Antonio's explanation for the makeup and Aunt Maxie's magic bag, all he could do is imagine the future with this bright and creative little boy.

When they had had lunch and after having to convince Antonio to eat the veggies, John had wondered what his mother would have thought about his son and knew she would have been warning him that his son was going to drive him as in insane as he had her.

Sitting at a stop light, he saw the phone on the dash buzzing and pulled off to a slightly wider spot on the road. Reading the message from Thomas he sent his reply and then brushed the curls out of Antonio's face as he slept on.

When they finally pulled into the small roadside restaurant he saw the limo arriving and was waking up their son when Georgie stopped him. Maneuvering him carefully out of the car, she soon had him lying against her as she placed him in the seat of the limo. "Are you sure?"

"Go, have fun." Said the smiling Italian. "I promise I won't let him eat anything too bad for him. I need a moment with my son before you two head out though."

John looked between the two and then followed his father to the other end of the car. "Don't blow this young man. Keep your hands to yourself and talk to her. Romance her, if you need advice-"

"I am quite capable of handling things with Georgie on my own." He growled at his father.

"Good, then do so. And just remember I don't want anymore grandchildren until you two are married." Glared the older man who ruined it by saying. "When you do get around to having more, a granddaughter would be nice."

John glared at his father then helped Georgie into the small two-seater. As the dark long car smoothly pulled away, he started the car then asked "Where do you want to have dinner?"

Taking a chance, she said "Remember the small place down near my old apartment, it is still there. Can we?"

Passing the limo when they came up to it, John beeped the horn while Georgie waved before he pulled forward and on to town. Checking the road, he pulled over in front of where they were planning on eating.

Meanwhile Lulu was getting annoyed and made a call to her husband. "What am I going to do now?"

Not liking the plan that his father had put forth and that Lulu had jumped upon as a way of dealing with her mother, he said "This wasn't such a good idea, Lulu. I don't like the idea of involving him."

"Its fine, I am not worried. I doubt John has any idea of what my mom has been doing." She said blithely ignoring reality like she did every time her mother was involved. Looking around at the hotel lobby that was emptying out as the Casino opened up, she frowned a moment at the little boy calling out to his grandfather and just let it go, certain that it was just her nervousness that made him look familiar.

Then she saw the man turn and heard him calling the little boy Antonio. "No, there is no way. Why on earth would Antonio Jones be calling out to John's father." Suddenly the names hit her and Lulu sat down. Turning white, she was trembling as she closed her eyes. Hoping against hope, she started to stand but her knees were weak.

"Oh god, please, please no. My mom…" With that she slid gracefully to the marble floor as she figured out that somehow Georgie Jones was involved and that by now, John more than likely knew the truth about her family. "What am I going to do now?"


	7. Chapter 7

It was after midnight when John and Georgie entered the hotel through the garage entrance. Holding onto Georgie's hand, trying for discretion when all he wanted to do was kiss her senseless again, they were almost at the private penthouse elevator when Georgie heard a voice she wasn't happy about even recognizing. "J-john, I need to talk to you."

The sense of intimacy between the happy couple slipped a bit as Georgie turned towards the voice. "G-georgie, look, it's important that I talk to John. We were engaged until recently."

Looking into Lulu's eyes, seeing the clear desperation, then trailing her eyes over the hair that had had fingers run through it repeatedly, the dark circles under the eyes, then the streaks of mascara from what had to be Lulu crying then down to the rumpled clothing, Georgie was about to give in, worried then Lulu added. "After all you owe me, John. And Georgie, seriously playing little miss innocent when you kept his kid from him. Yet you dare to judge me for what I did."

Stiffening, Georgie saw John about to tell Lulu off and stopped him saying. "Lulu, you know nothing about John and my history nor anything about my son. At most you saw him playing with Carly's son once or twice at Aunt Bobbie's. No one, least of all John owes you anything. And weren't you already married to another man during that very short engagement?"

Flushing a bit, Lulu reminded herself that now was not the time to let her feelings of inadequacy make things worse than they already were. "Look, it's very simple. John needs to help me or I will go to the press about your son being his. Do we understand one another?"

John looked at Lulu then Georgie before noticing Sophie hovering nearby. "Let's use my office. Lulu, follow us."

Once inside, Georgie went to the window that overlooked the car park while the blond insisted that Georgie leave, saying it was personal business. "No, Georgie stays. You are the one who needs to leave. Before you do however let me make one thing clear. DON'T EVER THREATEN my family again."

Lulu backed up to the desk when she saw the cold anger in John's eyes, catching her breath, she looked over at Georgie, then back at John before saying. "All of this, all of it, is your fault. Damn You, Georgie, damn you. It's because of you my life has a been a living hell since I was old enough to know your name. I hated you, I truly hate you."

Georgie turned to the blond then asked. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"I have hated you since I was old enough to know your name. Maxie was bad enough, but when we were little it was only you." she complained in a shrill tone. "Your entire family has made my life a living hell just by existing."

John thought about what Coleman had told him and asked. "Is this about your father chasing after her mother?"

Lulu glared at the dark haired man then snapped. "No, this was long before that. Poor Georgie, can't grow up at the Brownstone like everyone else, no, her daddy has to buy a house for her. A house that I should have grown up in, a house that rightfully belonged to my family."

"Uh, okay." said Georgie who then laughed a bit shocked at the level of malevolence in Lulu's eyes. "Explain this one to me, because I have no idea what the hell you are talking about."

"That house, it was mom's, It should have been mom's when Grandma Leslie died, but no, your family had to buy it and Mom had to find a new dream house. Instead she bought the house that has destroyed our family."

Georgie had no idea none what was going on, but as Lulu continued she was ready to scream at the self centered blond. Lulu finally shut up and figuring out the time difference, Georgie walked over to the phone then made a call. "Mrs. Hardy, do you have any idea why the Spencer family would consider my dad's house something they should have owned."

Audrey thought about it then said "Not really. When Laura's stepfather died he was already remarried to Ginny and had a son with her. They had no claim on the house, Ginny sold it to your father free and clear. What is going on my dear?"

"I have no clue, but at least it explains why we found her wedding gown in our spare attic." she said hanging up. Looking at Lulu who had heard the whole conversation and was now wearing a sneer, she said "Okay, come up with a better story because Mrs. Hardy didn't think you had a claim."

"It doesn't matter, my mother wanted to raise us in a family home, in a good neighborhood. When she couldn't get that house, she bought the one we have now, and dad started hanging around with those people, you know who I am talking about." she said without naming names.

"So you blame me for your father getting involved with the mob, are you that dense Lulu?" she asked skeptically. "Seriously when your dad worked at the Campus Disco he was in deep with the mob, supposedly the night he raped your mother it was because he thought he was going to die."

"MY FATHER NEVER RAPED MY MOTHER." she shouted. "Mom said he seduced her."

"Yeah right, I saw the police report when my father was dealing with Maxie's rape. Your father held your mother down and forced himself on her. Then tried to blame it on being drunk, he confessed to the police Lulu." Georgie didn't intend to let the truth be turned into something other than it was. Too many people had let the Spencer do that, including Lucky who 'til this day still denied he had ever had a drug problem.

"You are lying; you just want to make me..." Before Lulu could say that she wanted to make her crazy, John intervened with a comment.

"Lulu it is a matter of public record. Your mother was married to your father in law at the time; your father raped her one night when she was closing the disco as the cocktail waitress. Now why the hell do you want our help?" He had had more than enough of her attitude towards Georgie and had been annoyed to spend even five minutes in her company even while considering marrying her.

"I want nothing, absolutely nothing from her." she said scathingly of Georgie. "I want you to help me by giving me the money to buy out Deception's deed from the bank. If I have that I can make my mother back off regarding dad. Please John for what we meant to one another."

She made a point of looking at Georgie when she added the last bit. "You were so eager for me, we had sex before..."

"Lulu it isn't going to work." said Georgie laughing. "Seriously are you that stupid. Yeah, you are."

Stepping closer to the blond she said "I know all about it, John and I have talked about how he had sex with you one time on the desk at the hotel in New York. How it was to seal the deal so to speak regarding the engagement. I also know that you have been bitching about how badly he treated you. So don't play games, I won't engage in them."

Pressing her lips together, Lulu thought about what Scott had told her then looked at John. "Look, I need my dad out of that place. Without him I can't get my mother dealt with. Lucky won't help because dad wouldn't give him money but Mom does all the time. I need to protect my father."

"Why? Why would Scott Baldwin care?" Georgie looked at the blond suspiciously. "He hates your father and the only reason he would help him was if your mother begged or if there was a whole hell of a lot of money in it for him."

"There just might be; what is his interest in you getting a hold of Deception, Lulu?" said John thinking on what his father had told him about business the evening before and the files his sister had sent to him. "What Lulu here hasn't said is that there is a lot of money to be made by having control of her mother's stock. Laura is planning on auctioning off both the Haunted Star and Luke's share of the diner to regain her stock."

Georgie started to piece things together. The day that Laura had attacked her about being a single mom she had been coming out of the cellar of Kelly's, thinking things through she said to John. "Don't help her. Lulu, go home, tell Scott I know what he is up to and I'm warning Aunt Bobbie."

"Don't." she shouted then looked at the two set faces in front of her then glared at Georgie before hissing. "Once again you have ruined my life. Why can't you just stay away from me and mine?"

"Lulu I don't know how you got here, but go home, let Scott that we aren't playing and just be a wife to that husband of yours. I would tell him whatever it is you are keeping a secret, whatever it is that Scott is holding over your head. I guarantee Scott will tell him no matter what." John had seen her with Logan and knew that no matter what else was going on, Lulu loved the man. Clearly there was more going on here than meets the eye.

"It's about the abortion, isn't It." said Georgie shaking her head. "Of course it is. Lulu you are a fool if you think he won't learn of it."

"Logan knows." she said resentfully then added annoyed. "His mother doesn't and he is reliant on her for money until he finishes school."

"I gave you a million dollars on the hope that you would just go away, why don't you use that." asked John annoyed at her for ruining their plans for the evening as well as for daring to show up here at all.

"That is my money, my running away money like dad calls it." she insisted. "Besides, it's not like it was that much to you. You could have given me more."

"Lulu some things never change." said Georgie disgusted. "A million from John to go away, I know that the Quartermaines gave you a million a few years ago before they found out you had an abortion. What did you do with it/"

"I spent it." she said hugging herself around the waist as she remembered the way everyone had acted when they found there was no longer a baby. Her mother had railed and railed telling her that she should have known better. Then Laura had taken the money, saying that it was too much of a burden on Lulu.

Grabbing her arm, John escorted her out of the office, just wanting her and her mess to go away.

Walking her across the lobby, John saw Georgie standing at the threshold and then looked at Lulu. "Deception is no longer any one in your family's concern. As for Luke, the minute your mother gets what she wants, she will let him out of the hospital. This is all just one big con."

In the taxi on the way back to the airport in Venice, Lulu pondered on the mess her family was now in and knew she just knew John was wrong. Her mother was deeply angry about Luke's son with Holly Sutton; she had been growing more and more distant and snappy as time went on.

Since Lulu was a little girl she had been scared of disappointing Laura, of making her angry with her. Now, she was really worried, over the last few months, every since zoning meeting when the Haunted Star had lost its license her mother had been acting strange.

"_Mom, why am I here." she asked as she sat down next to her mother as the local councilman droned on and one about the new rules regarding something. "How long before they discuss the license?"_

"_There are a few things in front of it. Now shush, I want to hear what Edward Quartermaine is saying."_

_Edward was going on and on regarding his new plans for the hospital. It was pretty much a straight line yes, most municipal projects were. Next up was PCU's President. "Gentlemen, I would like to submit this proposal to tear down the building now know as Outrigger building #6 so that we may build a new Aquatic's center."_

_They read over the proposal and Lulu's mind started to drift but it came back when she felt her mother's nails digging into her skin. Seeing Laura's white skin, she leaned over and asked. "Mom is everything okay?"_

"_Be quiet." she was told by the woman while her father on the other side was not much happier. Shrugging off paying any attention to the meeting as they discussed some dilapidated building that hadn't been used since the seventies, long before she was born, Lulu was glad when they finally came to the Haunted Star's license._

_As they left, she didn't get the bitter recriminations between her parents, they were overreacting to this. Yeah, it was bad but they had been discussing selling out to the Zacharas anyhow, so what was the big deal. "Mom, I will see you later; I have to meet a few old friends at that club downtown."_

_Lulu was sitting at the hottest club in town and wishing she was back in Texas when she heard her parents' names being mentioned by two of the regulars. Dr. Tom Hardy Jr. was discussing with his date and Dr. Matt Hunter about the colleges plans._

"_Lainey, trust me, they were livid. Not that I am really surprised. I was a bit shocked to hear them mentioning the old disco at the hearing. My father Mac told me all about what went down there between Luke Spencer and Laura who was Scott Baldwin's wife at the time."_

"_How do you know so much about it?" Lainey asked her date the very handsome student doctor from Boston. "I thought you grew up in South Africa working with your parents? How do you know some urban legend?"_

"_I am related to Baldwin. My father was the biological son of his uncle. Scott's mother worked with my father for a while, I heard them talking about how Scott went off the rails after what happened to Laura there."_

_Lulu couldn't help frowning at them discussing her family's business but knew she didn't dare confront them, Tommy and Matt had spent summers in Port Charles and neither of them had liked her very much. Add that to Matt being related to the Jones girls and she shuddered as she listened to them talking. _

"_It is just creepy that she married him, not that your Uncle Scott is much of a prize." said Lainey._

"_I agree, still I had no idea that the disco was still standing."_

"_Not after next week." said Matt yawning "I have to head home, Georgie is graduating this week."_

_Tommy reached up to touch the arm where the little boy had pinched him during his pediatrics rotation then said "I still owe you for what you told him to do when he got his shots."_

"_Too bad." smirked Matt. "See yah later."_

_Lulu had left not longer after and had gone home in time to hear her parents shouting at one another as Laura shouted at her father. There were door slams then she heard her father stumbling up the steps drunk. So much for telling them about the man she had met. Logan had asked her to marry him, but she had run, scared of how her family would react to her having a relationship with the man who her parents hated._

Lulu sighed as she got out of the taxi, went to pay the man only to be told it was taken care of. In the terminal, she went through customs and sat down at the gate. Taking out her phone, turning it over again and again in nervousness, she finally made the call. "He said no."

Scott looked in the window to where his son and his sister were talking and then frowned. "I don't care what you have to do, but convince him or I tell Logan's mother about your abortion."

With a slightly hysterical laugh, she said "John, John is seeing Georgie Jones, now do you get the problem, Scott. He knows, she had to have told him everything about me. I have no chance, none of getting him to listen to me. He said for me to forget about Deception."

"YOU TOLD HIM, WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT?" he yelled. Seeing he was drawling attention he counted to ten then said "You completely screwed this up."

Hanging up, Scott thought about it and wished he had come up with a better idea at the time but when Luke had suggested getting rid of Rick Webber's body in the wall of the remodeled Deception, he had agreed. With that sick photographer Tom Baker going to jail mere months later, they had even had a dupe for the murder.

Too bad he was still alive, they had thought a child molester like Baker would have been dead by now, but somehow the man stubbornly was still alive and there was always a chance that someone somewhere would believe the man was innocent of the doctor's death.

Laura had killed her stepfather when he had been helping Scott try to get the blond to face that marrying her rapist was not something a normal healthy person would do. Too bad it had reminded his ex-wife of the first name she had killed. David Conrad an older boyfriend of her mothers and Laura's first lover. She had been in the midst of some sort of psychotic break and Scott had covered her stepfather's death up, unable to bear the idea of the woman he still loved in jail for manslaughter.

However since the City Council meeting Laura was remembering and it would only get worse. Scott had tried for years to find a way to use that body, that death against Luke but there was no possible way. All he could do is hope that when they tore the darn building down, that they didn't find the body.

John opened the door and let Georgie in first. Seeing his father reading what looked like a financial report, he said "Lulu Spencer has shown up."

"I regret the moment we ever considered opening a casino in Port Charles. That mother of her, she has been talking to the press. In her mind we reneged on the business deal after finding out about Luke."

Snorting as she returned from checking on Antonio, Georgie walked over and poured herself a glass of wine then sitting down in one of the chairs said "She might be a bit right, after all most people knew Luke Spencer was more than a little off his rocker."

"What I don't get is she tossed him under the proverbial bus, why? Even if it was a set up, she is acting rather cold towards him." Anthony got the feeling they were missing something, something important.

"If what John heard is correct regarding Deception, add that to learning about Ethan…" Georgie felt her mind pushing her towards something but what? Going through the last few months, she thought about the rumors and what she knew as the truth. "What if… what if… what if instead of Luke being crazy, Laura finally snapped?"

"What do you mean?" asked Anthony.

"Simply put, Laura has been acting odder than normal, plus with the disco being torn down on the campus… John, wait, how did Lulu know where we were? I thought we were keeping it a secret?" Both men looked at her then at one another before John reached for his cell phone.

Making a couple of calls, he swore than looked up and said "Damian Spinelli. That idiot needs his fingers broken. He did some research for her. I gave you my credit card the other day."

"Maybe we should head home." She said her lips pressed together. "We came because we were worried about Luke, now he is out of commission and Laura is still wandering around. Lulu would sell me out in an instant to get her mother off her back. I would feel better if we were on home territory, we could protect Antonio better."

"Do you really think that Laura Spencer would harm a child?" asked Anthony as his hands gripped the chair arms tightly. He was not going to doubt Georgie's judgment regarding the middle aged blond woman. She was clearly on the brink of a full on snap with reality and already had some unreasonable anger at his future daughter in law.

"We can spend a few days here, enjoying Italy, and then head back. If you don't mind waiting a few days?" John asked wanting to spent at least one day with both Georgie and Antonio while in town.

Anthony looked at the young couple then said "I will call Claudia then head back tomorrow. I have to make a quick trip to Venice."

Georgie wanted to tell him that they would all head back but instead she saw John's entreating expression and said "Thank you, hopefully we will see you by Friday."

Anthony kissed her goodnight then went to his suite. Only after the door closed did he wince as he remembered all the clothes he had secretly purchased for Georgie and his grandson. "Oops! I will leave a note."

The Italian grinned, hopefully staying a few extra days would help to get rid of Georgie's ire over the complete wardrobe he had arranged.

John reached out and took Georgie's hand then led her to their bedroom. "I am going to check on our son, why don't you get ready for bed."

"Rather sure of yourself aren't you, Mr. Zachara." She smirked as she pushed on his chest when he leaned down to kiss her. "What's to stop me from banishing you from my bed?"

Leaning down, he pulled her into a mind drugging kiss, then abruptly pulled back whispering "We both know that I will be in the same bed as you tonight and that very little sleep will be had."

Georgie watched shaking her head as he went to check on their son, walking into the bedroom, she was about to change when she had an idea. Opening the door to John's closet, she pouted a bit when the only dress shirt she saw was crumpled on the floor, so much for that idea. Kicking off her shoes, removing her jewelry, Georgie was rather glad she wasn't wearing hose. Unzipping her dress, she slid it off her shoulders then shimmied it down past her hips then reached out for John's t-shirt.

Returning to the main part of the room, she turned down the lights until all that was on was the light above the bed. "You know that is my only clean shirt."

"No, that is your only clean t-shirt." She said turning around and watching as he kicked off his shoes. Walking over, she said "Here, let me help."

"If you help me, I am not going to make it to that bed." He warned. Georgie lifted her head, then said "Kiss me."

"Why don't you kiss me." He replied then felt his heart stop as Georgie thought about things, John and she had spent the night talking, now she was about to take a step that once taken meant no going back, strictly forward.

When Georgie didn't tease him, nor had she even moved minutes later, John pulled back a bit then said "We don't have to…" Putting her hands over his lips before he could say that they didn't have to go any further, she reached down and pulled his t-shirt up over her head and tossed it towards the dresser.

Her arms off to her side, worried he could see the faint stretch marks, the way her body was changed from years ago, Georgie looked up and saw the desire, the lust and blushed while stammering. "I-I just, I have changed."

His hands shaking as they encircled her waist, John's eyes went to her breasts and breathed out a reply. "I uh, noticed. Damn, Georgie do you have any idea the things I have been dreaming about doing to you for the last few nights. How hard you make me, because if you did, you would be running from me."

Georgie's lips were trembling as she started to talk only for John to press his thumb against them and then traced their curves even as he recalled the one and only time they had ever been wrapped around him. He could still remember his very shocking lack of control as he didn't even have time to warn her before he had come.

The gentle caress was driving her over the edge when he ran his hand up her cheek to her neck then down to her smooth skin before stopping to press against her pressure point sending shivers of pure pleasure down to her most intimate parts. "Your heart is racing."

"I want you." She told him, and then added "I want this, tonight. You and me in that bed, naked with nothing between us."

Bending down and touching his lips to her shoulder, he gently licked her skin before sucking it into his mouth. Pulling back before he left a mark, he said "I want more than tonight, can you do forever?"

Her yes was a response to both the question and John's hands clasping her hips and pulling her against his erection. Taking possession of her lips, John's mouth was demanding a complete surrender even as he went to reach for his shirt buttons.

Georgie's arms snaked up around his shoulder and were soon in his hair even as she lost track of all sensible thought. John kept up the pressure until they were both gasping for air. His lips immediately returned to her shoulders, "You really are so beautiful…"

John's hand trailed down the line of her neck, then lower to where the delicate silk was covering her incredible curves. Her eyes fluttered closed as he gentle caressed her; the tips of his long fingers delving under to touch the skin just enough to increase the need burning inside of her.

When his hand moved lower still, curving around her breasts, molding them to fit into his hands, Georgie felt herself melting with need. John leaned closer, kissing her neck again while cursing the dark blue silk that was proving too much of a barrier to his wants even as his hand moved over the narrow curve of her waist to the top of her matching lace pants. "Georgie, damn, I want toss you on that bed, then keep you there until you can't walk tomorrow morning."

"Promises, promises." She gave a throaty laugh that was cut off when his hand cupped her moist center.

"Just the thought of you and me… is enough to make me come." Georgie felt her throbbing core clench as his words settled down deep inside of her at the same time as his hand slipped between the silk and her skin unerringly finding her wetness.

John's mouth covered hers hungrily kissing her while his finger probed with deeper and firmer strokes. Feeling her tense as she started to orgasm, John sent her over, then gentling the kiss, held her tightly in his arms, enjoying the closeness that was surrounding them.

"John?" Before she could ask if everything was okay, his long fingers reaching behind her and unfastening her bra his voice breaking as between kisses he told her how much he wanted her, how much he needed this, to be with her, to know that she needed him too.

Lifting her John placed her in the middle of the bed then stepped back to get rid of his clothes. The belt buckle was giving him a hard time as his hands trembled before with a muttered oath he got it undone then quickly got rid of his pants, followed by his dress shirt, popping buttons in his haste rejoin Georgie.

Seeing Georgie's eyes devouring him, then laughing when she looked embarrassed at being caught, he said "Don't hide that you want me, what you are feeling, that is what you make me feel every single time I look at you."

"It's just…" Georgie's eyes were helplessly drawn to his erect cock, "You would stop me, but I really just want to give you the pleasure you gave me."

Moaning even as he knew that it couldn't happen right now, that his control was minimal at best, he said "I know, just can we wait a bit. I have dreams of us and right now I want to fulfill every single one of them."

Georgie leaned back a bit disappointed at being denied until she saw his eyes suddenly looked like molten chocolate before he climbed on the bed. His hands reached out for her breasts, finding the hard tips of her nipples and then his lips replaced his hands.

Gasping with pleasure as the searing heat of his mouth seemed to lay claim to her body, Georgie reached out and raked her fingers over his shoulders, burying her face in the curls so similar to their sons. His knees were straddling her, as he pulled her up a bit while his lips possessively moved lower down over her stomach his hands stroking lower and lower over her skin.

The his hands were on her inner thighs, parting her legs as his lips pressed kisses on each thigh before pressing one against her just above her slit. "Now…"

John sat back and looked at her, her hair was loose around her shoulders, her lips swollen from his kisses. Stroking one hand over her breasts then watching as she arched her back, wanting more. "Are you sure?"

"I need you, now!" John pulled her further down onto the bed, worried about her comfort even as he moved up to lay claim to her. Thrusting inside, he felt her body's tightness, heard her gasp at the invasion. Staying still, giving her time to adjust, John reminded himself that he had to go slow.

As her body relaxed Georgie reached out and encircled John's neck with her hands, her hips lifting to get even closer to him. Listening to him gasping, she whispered in his ear. "Show me the real you, don't hide John. Give me everything."

Pulling back a bit, their eyes meeting, John leaned down to kiss her even as his hand grasped hers and tightened them around the headboard. "Hold on."

Just the words made her insides clench. Her last semi-conscious thought was her mind shouting the word YES as he drove back inside of her, then retreated, returning yet again… and again… and again until both had lost track where one of them ended and the other began.

Sending Georgie over, John yanked his lips away from hers as he buried his head between her shoulder and neck as his body bucked then came… buried deep inside. Georgie's body milked him for everything he had even as the fact they hadn't used a condom escaped their notice.

Slowly gathering his thoughts, John felt Georgie's hot tears and pulled back worried only for her to whimper she loved him. "I hate that I was so angry at you but I loved you. I have always loved you."

"I love you too." He said then added. "I should have stayed; I should have never left you."

Wiping away her tears, John was a bit worried she would pull away but instead she curled up around him like a cat, soon fast asleep while he lay there, his mind telling him that this was only the first step to getting their future back on track.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

John felt the sudden warmth then the small little arm landing on his stomach just as the sun started to rise off in the distance. Unable to move, worried that Antonio might fall on the floor, he breathed a sigh of relief when the little boy crawled over him to sit on the space between his mother and him.

Hearing the giggling, his eyes met his sons and rumbled "What is so funny?"

"Mommy not wearing clothes." John's heart beat faster, then looked over to see Georgie's bare back. Grateful for that, he lifted his son up, planning on taking him to the living room when he thought about the fact that he himself was wearing nothing. Setting Antonio down on his stomach, he grinned when the little boy laid down, his head against his heartbeat.

Not sure what to do and not wanting to be naked in front of his young son, John was going to have him go find one of his toys when he heard the light snoring and found that the toddler had gone back to sleep. Moving just enough to his side to slip Antonio safely to his other side, he edged closer to Georgie then reached out with his hand to try and shake her awake.

"Georgie?" All she did was wake up, look at him then curl up against his side. Wanting to laugh as his son buried his right hand and his left was now awkwardly cupping Georgie, all he could do was try and wake her up without moving. "Georgie?"

Her lips nuzzling the rapid pulse mere inches away, Georgie snaked her hand under the covers and found that John was far from ready for what she had planned. Deciding that meant he would be more receptive to what she had wanted to do the night before, she encircled his length and ran her fingers along his sensitive top.

John's body reacted in spite of himself, all he could do was sweat as Georgie aroused him.

Feeling him hardening, she moved her hand up and down, gently teasing him until she felt the wetness of his pre-cum. Kissing the shoulder next to her, she placed her next kiss on his pectorals, then his breastbone and was starting for his now taut nipple when she felt his finger slide inside of her. Moaning out loud, she considered using it like a toy but before she could, she heard his voice "Don't move. We have a visitor."

"Tell them to go away." she moaned as she moved her hips just a little.

"It's our son." That made the ache go away and go away quickly as she moved her hips away from his fingers. Lifting her head, Georgie saw the dark curls on the other side of the bed and her hand let go of it's tight grip on John's erection. "You have no idea how much I wish things were different."

Hearing the regret in his voice, Georgie saw the pained expression and couldn't help laughing at the situation they were in. "It's not funny, we aren't wearing any clothes."

That sobered her up a bit. "Okay, I will slide out of bed, do you remember if I brought my robe in with me?"

"No, my eyes went no further than you wearing my t-shirt." he said willing the erection to go away but found that watching his naked girl friend slinking around the room looking for something to wear wasn't helping matters.

Finding her robe, she said she would shower and then take Antonio so that he could do the same when Georgie remembered her makeup bag was in the other bedroom. Walking back to the bedroom with John's robe, she leaned down and kissed Antonio on the top of the head, then making sure he was asleep gave John a lingering kiss. Setting his robe on the end of the bed, she turned and said "Good morning, by the way."

His eyes feasting on the skin showing through the gap in her robe, he said his voice hoarse with want "Oh I had plans for you this morning, so many plans."

"That is part of being parents, plans canceled without warning." she tossed back at him while straightening up and heading toward the door. "Just think this is only the first time of many that this will happen."

When Georgie had gone, John looked at Antonio and whispered. "You should be very glad I love you little man, there aren't a lot of people who could get away with interrupting what you did."

His sons reaction to his fathers oh so generous comment was to frown then scoot over a bit, his legs and arms trying to push John over on the bed. Moving on to Georgie's side, John couldn't help laughing when Antonio moved to the middle of the bed, then opened his eyes a bit before saying. "Gos back to sleep daddy. I's tired."

"How about daddy go join Mommy." he asked himself amused to watch as Antonio soon moved to the center the bed as the little boy kicked off the covers. Deciding that since he was now exposed, John quickly dove for the robe that Georgie had tossed on the foot of the bed.

Looking between his son and the door, John had an idea. Maneuvering the pillows around their son, he went to join Georgie in the shower.

In Port Charles Jax was letting himself into his penthouse after another night of making sure that Skye knew he was interested. She had stopped fighting him, but made it plain that anything that happened was going to be after a very long and slow road.

When he had assured her that no matter how long it took, that he would be there waiting when she came out the other side. Checking his e-mail, Jax frowned a bit when he saw the message from Claudia Zachara. She had agreed to his request to save the diner, but wanted something else from him. Taking out his calendar seeing he was free, Jax knew that this was going to be a very interesting evening.

After checking the Tokyo markets, then went to bed while making notes to talk to Maxie about his business plan for her new line.

Early the next morning Claudia found the reply from the Australian, then went to call her father. "Jax is in, I talked to Morgan and he said he would be there."

"Good, let's deal with the Spencer family, they have outlived their usefulness." he replied then went to make yet another call. Soon all the ducks were in their nice neat row as the plans for the property auction and it's aftermath moved as fast as time would allow. What truly disgusted the man was how Laura was trying to sell her sister in law's business as well after years of her family taking out the profits but putting nothing into the business.

In Italy, Johnny, Georgie and Antonio spent the day at the botanical gardens then at the small zoo in Verona. The energetic little boy in spite of the language barrier soon found some playmates while swinging on the jungle gym and his parents took the time to quietly talk about returning home.

"I could tell you weren't that thrilled with living in my house, but for now, Antonio is going to need stability while he gets used to having a father around." Georgie explained then said with a slight smirk. "Besides, I think once you get a nice look at my shower, you might not want to leave."

Resting his chin on her shoulder, John sighed then said "As long as you don't mind my moving in, things should be fine. Because there is no way that the two of you are going to be living across town while I am stuck in that impersonal hotel suite."

When Antonio suddenly pouted then looked between his two playmate, Georgie was curious as to what was going on, but when he suddenly came over, then looked at the other kids, she asked. "Antonio, why did you stop playing with your friends?"

"I want a fratello(little brother) too." he said his lower lip trembling as he looked back at the two boys he had been playing with. "Please, Mommy?"

"Yes, Mommy can Antonio have a little brother?" John added with a wicked grin.

"Antonio you do know that it might be a little sister, that we have no way of knowing." she asked trying to distract him with the idea that his brother might be a girl.

"No, Mommy because if you go to the store and buy one, you can just ask for a boy." he said while his father found himself gasping as he tried not to laugh at the look on Georgie's face. "Please, Mommy, I really want one."

"But Antonio, you just got a father and a grandfather and you have an Aunt Claudia. How about we wait?" she tried trying to find a way of turning this around.

"Mommy whats a fratello (little brother) gots to do with that?" he asked quizzically.

"Uh..." she honestly didn't know, but then hit on a brilliant way of ending the awkward conversation. "Antonio, brothers take at least nine months to arrive. Remember you could barely wait for Christmas after Halloween."

"PLEASE! Please Mommy." he tried pleading then had a brilliant idea. "Daddy, tell mommy to tell me she will think about it."

John looked sideways at Georgie then at his son and said "How about I promise to think about it, will that due?"

"Okey-dokie." he said then went back to his playmates. John looked at Georgie then asked "Have thought about having more kids, someday?"

Blushing a bit, she said yes, just not for a few years though. "John, I would love more kids, you know that I love you and that I would love to have more children, don't you?"

Seeing how she ended the question so uncertainly he lifted her down turned head and asked. "What is it?"

"There are things I need to tell you about when I was pregnant, I didn't want to, because of... well... honestly I am not sure how to tell you. Mainly because we can do nothing to change things, and I know you, I know you already feel guilty about not being there." she said upset but knowing she had to make him understand.

"Georgie, you know you can tell me anything, anything at all." he said.

"Let's gather Antonio, while he is down for his nap we can talk." she said then leaned in and impulsively kissed him. "Just promise me, no guilt, okay?"

John was carrying his son, while explaining that when he got home his bike would be waiting for him. "Will you and mommy ride with me?"

"Yes." he said as they entered the hotel. Stopping one of the waiters, John asked for room service to send up their dinner order a bit later he had requested earlier that day then was soon tucking his yawning son into bed.

Joining Georgie who was looking out the window, he encircled her waist and said "Tell me what is going on."

"Its what happened." she said then led him over to the sofa. "When I returned home and told my family about Antonio. Dad was a bit upset, but stood by me, same with my the rest of my family. However, there were a few hypocrites who felt the need to offer their opinions."

"Who?" he clipped out, angry that someone had dared to upset her. "Who gave you a hard time."

Reaching out for his hands, she said "It was mainly Laura Spencer and the country club set. The funny thing is Bobbie and her daughter... that was when Carly started to pay attention to me. She ripped into Carly then went to Elizabeth Morgan who I had known for years. They tried to keep her away but then Lulu and well some old school friends of mine were suddenly talking about me behind my back, then making cruel comments to my face."

She felt John tense and quickly added. "Oh don't worry. I let most of it roll off my back, but then one day while I was working for Jason, she showed up. Created a scene that had nothing to do with me, then we were trapped in the elevator together for the ride down."

"Georgie, I just don't get it. Why would she even care?" he asked. "This whole hatred of your family, it doesn't make any sense. I mean, Why you, why Maxie?"

"I don't know. Mac said that for the most part, she wasn't around for my younger years, for Maxie's either. But when they returned from wherever it was they were living, she resented us, resented Bobbie spending time babysitting us, I mean, I can remember being in like fourth or fifth grade when they moved home and her anger. Then when the truth about her sons came out after Nik moved here, it got worse."

"What did she do, what aren't you telling me?" he asked. He had seen her eyes and knew she was still keeping something from him.

"Nothing, it is nothing like that. I just, it was almost like... well she was punishing me for something but I never did anything to her. The snide comments, the deliberate little cuts, like not holding an elevator door, or shutting the door to Kelly's when she saw me coming." Georgie knew that she had to tell him the rest but didn't know how so she just blurted it out. "John, I just... wow, this is hard because I haven't thought of this until recently."

"Georgie..."

"When I was pregnant, I was walking across the park, I suddenly cramped up. Laura was there talking to her mother, anyhow... I couldn't move, I landed on a bench and I couldn't find my phone. I asked her to call for help. She refused..."

"What?" he whispered in shock. "Why the hell? What is wrong with this woman?"

"That is why I don't like Laura. John, she waited until her mother had left after promising Leslie she would help me get to the hospital. Then turned around and sat down next to me, wouldn't call for help, wouldn't do anything." the tears on Georgie's face were a testament to the pain of her memories. "I honestly don't think that if my Uncle Tony hadn't come along I would have died, along with Antonio. Oh, she claimed that she had called, but I didn't see her John. I know that she didn't call. I just can't prove it."

John couldn't help recalling his own dislike of the woman he had thought was a social climber but knowing what he did now, he couldn't help thinking that Laura Spencer sounded like a sociopath.

With a guilty sigh she said, "See people know, my Uncle accused her of playing games when I was getting checked out."

Making a few calls while Georgie said she would be back, that she needed a few minutes alone, including one to Elizabeth Morgan, he quickly found out that his father had already begun the plan to evict the Spencer family such as it was from PC.

"John, I think it might help Georgie if she was there." he replied.

Downstairs, Georgie thought about all she had finally admitted and had a sense of freedom for the first time in years. She had always felt like she had done something wrong, but in truth, the Spencer family minus Luke who was just an old drunk gave off an aura of malevolence that strangely enough reminded her of their enemy Helena Cassadine.

Returning to the suite, she found John making plans and went to set up the table for the dinner that had arrived just as Antonio came barreling out of his bedroom. Hearing both John and their son calling out her name, she looked from one to the other then was handed the phone while John went to take care of the hungry little boy.

Listening to what the man on the other end said, she looked back at John, had Kevin called him or had someone given John Kevin's name. Her eyes widened as she listened to the man speaking then asked him to repeat what he had to say. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Lulu Spencer came to see me the moment she returned to town. I am going to be treating her but she understood that with my family's relationship with yours, I wanted to know how you felt about it before I took her on as a patient." he asked.

"If it is going to help her and since you don't actually live in Port Charles, no I have no problem with it." Hanging up, Georgie and John soon were having dinner with Antonio and discussing the day, laughing at the little boys' never ending questions as they ran out of answers to some of them.

"Dad wants us to make a stop on the way home. There is a shop in Venice, so I was thinking since they want us to return home the day of the auction, we could make a few detours on the way." he said then reminded her that before he had been forced to go home four years before, they had made plans to spend a couple of days in Venice.

"Only if I finally get that gondola ride." she said then started to laugh at his pained expression. Antonio saved John's fate when he said "Gonnalla?"

"Yes, its a boat we ride on the streets." she said as she started to return the room service settings to the tray and luckily for John missed hearing him mutter that it was a tourist trap for saps and how he was never going to live this down when his sister heard about it.

Laura Spencer thanked the delivery man, then opened the box. Two hours later, she came too asleep on her sofa and having no idea, none how she got there. Staggering to the phone, she called her doctor and said "It happened again."

Denying his request to come in and see him immediately, she assured the man that as soon as she was finished with her plan she would check into the hospital for a couple of weeks. Hurrying to the hospital where Luke was a patient, she was glad to see he was still there unable to fulfill his promise to escape and stop her from destroying their family.

"Laura, please, don't you see, there is something wrong with you." he pleaded with her, certain that something had to have caused her to snap. For years, since she had came back from her marriage to that bastard Cassadine, she had been slowly unraveling, from her determination to become like the very women she used to scorn to her unreasonable hatred of the Scorpio/Jones family.

"Luke, soon we will have the money to do whatever we wanted." she crooned. "Don't you remember, that was all we ever wanted. Soon you won't have to run cons, the mob can't hurt you anymore and our family, our children can marry the mates of their dreams."

"Laura, listen to yourself, Lucky is an adult and the girl he has been lusting after is married, and has been for years to Morgan. As for buttercup, well Lulu is married to that whelp of Baldwin's. You have to let this go, please!" When his wife up and left, Luke sat down, his mind traveling to the past and trying to figure out what had happened to the girl he had fallen in love with all those years ago in that disco.

Had their covering up her part in the death of Rick Webber, had it sent her over the edge? Or was it something else. Leslie had tried to stop them from being together for years, saying that Luke and her were not a good couple, that her daughter needed a more stable life than he was capable of offering. What if she had been right? What if he had driven Laura to this?

Maxie was watching as Jax talked to Skye about his plan for taking her business to a wider audience and saw that the red head was impressed but then the woman looked at her and asked "Maxie, I have heard his plan, but strangely enough, I have never heard you say that this is what you want? Is it?"

Smiling weakly, she said "Oh course it is."

The red head had her doubts and saw that Jax had no idea that he was railroading the young girl into something that she wasn't ready for just yet. Deciding to distract the blond, she asked if he was interested in working on her charity plans or should she return at a later point.

Jax was torn, between business and the woman he was trying to win, but the dress designer decided to make it an easy choice and told Jax she had to get her shop open for the day. Heading to her store, she saw Dante Falconari watching someone and moved over discreetly to see if she could figure out who it was.

Getting it, she moved behind the man and said "You know, as a friend, let me tell you, Lulu Spencer is not anyone you want to be involved with."

Jumping a bit, he turned and said "Where did you come from? And I am not interested in Lulu. I just came across something in a file and need to find out the truth yet from what I heard she and truth aren't exactly acquaintances."

"I have to head to the shop, but if you are free, I am going to be having lunch brought in." she cheerfully told him, then deciding to take that chance she had promised Georgie, leaned over and said quietly "I would love it if you would stop by."

Dante's eyes met hers then with a slowly growing smile he said "I will be there, I promise."

As the blond continued on her way, the dark haired man smiled, glad that maybe Maxie was finally getting ready to move forward and not let what had happened control her whole life. Hurrying to see his client, he gave her the photos then took payment.

"Thank you, now I was hoping you would be willing to stay on the job. I really need to know if my son has made a good choice." said the woman with the Texas drawl. "I just have more questions than answers."

"I really think you would be wasting your money. Lulu has screwed up some stuff, but as to whether her marriage to your son is a good or bad choice, surely that is up to Logan." Dante knew that some mothers especially single parents found it hard to let go, his mom had had that problem until he had moved away, but this woman was taking it to extremes.

When she had left, Dante couldn't resist calling his mother and asked "Do you remember when you went through the over protective mother phrase, did you ever hire a PI to check into any of my girlfriends?"

Hearing the laughter and the no, Dante explained without mention names. Then after a few moments of silence he said "Maxie and I have a lunch date."

"About time, you know if you don't let the young woman know you are interested, she is only going to think you want to be friends."

"I want to be a heck of a lot more than her friend, but she was hurt, badly. I will take baby steps, because in the end, Mom she is the one." Hurrying across town back to the hotel, he had just walked into the shop when Maxie looked up from her sketchpad and said "Perfect timing, they are going to be bringing the food any moment."

TBC

Hate to break so early but I want to keep the auction and the Spencer take down together.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Over the next two days, things started to come together as Johnny and Georgie spent time as a family with their son while in Port Charles the various parties were all convinced that they were going to be successful.

Maxie had had lunch with Dante, followed by breakfast the next morning after he had shown up with fresh muffins at her apartment. "Thank you."

Both were carefully feeling their way towards a relationship. Maxie thought about what Skye had said the previous day during a visit to her shop and took a chance at being open with her feelings. Looking at the PI, she just tossed the idea out there hoping the answer was yes. "Dante, would you be interested in having dinner with me tomorrow night?"

"I would love to but instead of going out, how about you trust me to cook for you?" he asked already planning on wowing her with his favorite dish to cook, then worried she might think he was being too forward then hastened to say "Unless you would rather be out in public?"

"No, no, that is fine." she said with a smile as she kissed his cheek then hurried into the hotel lobby, practically skipping as she hurried to open Buttons and Bows.

Skye woke up to the smell of fresh flowers and saw the bouquet that Jax had given her the previous evening. Reaching out to touch one of the white petals, she reached for her phone, then hit speed dial one. "Good morning."

The Australian on the other end smiled as he finished making his fruit smoothie and said "I was hoping you would call this morning. I am going to be busy dealing with the auction and sale of Deception but was going to ask you to have dinner with me tonight."

"I will be waiting with heels on." she tossed out only to be asked when did she not wear heels. "Wouldn't you like to know. Claudia said this might get ugly, be careful okay?"

"I always am." he said then after hanging up he went to double check the latest numbers on his laptop then made a call. "Are we sure that Corinthos is going to make an offer on the diner."

"Yeah, he got a certified check for almost a quarter of a million dollars from his bank, plus we know that he took out another quarter in cash." reported Claudia.

Across town Jason Morgan was kissing his wife good bye for the morning then asked her if she would make it in time for the auction. "I hope to be there for Georgie, have you all thought about warning Bobbie what Laura is up to."

"We are hoping she has the sense to pull out of this." he said in spite of knowing that Laura Spencer wouldn't do it, not as long as she had Ric Lansing representing her and whispering in her ear. What they were really interested in was who was the attorney helping? His client, his brother or the unknown party whose fingerprints were all over this mess.

"However, Bobbie is insisting on going ahead with her plan. I am worried, this could backfire and she might lose the diner. She doesn't deserve that, "

Jason had his own issues with Sonny and man that was Sonny's half brother. He didn't know if the two of them were working together in some sort of capacity, but he did know that Ric's father was connected to the Cassadines.

Jax signed off on the purchase of the loan papers before taking control of the stock, then called Anthony Zachara. "I have cut off her only avenue of escape. Are you sure that the city will do what you want?"

"Yes. The former Deception building is now officially in an area downgraded as blighted. I don't get how it wasn't before." he replied frowning as he wondered who Spencer had bribed to keep the building as viable so that the bank hadn't stepped in before.

"Good, so the only other person who might consider putting an offer on it, the bank won't accept his loan papers with the downgrade." said the Australian. Now, Laura would be required to sell out to one of them and they had no intention of paying what the land had been worth before the maneuvering and the Spencer woman hadn't put a minimum on the sale at the auction house.

They could force her to sell the four story building for as little as a dollar. The Haunted Star itself wouldn't bring much. There was no real use for the floating casino and mainly salvage boats were expected to offer for it now that she had removed all the fixtures.

That only left their main worry. The diner that Sonny Corinthos had made very clear from the beginning that he was interested in buying. They were a bit worried because if he got a foot in the door he might be able to force Bobbie Jones out and the woman didn't deserve what her sister-in-law was attempting to do even if Laura had legal right to sell her half to anyone she wanted.

The auctioneer was talking to the tightly wound blond as her daughter and son stood back a bit letting her doing the talking.

"Lucky we have to stop this. Dad loves that old tub." whispered Lulu as her brother ignored her. His mother was right, it was nothing more than a death trap and they would be better off if Luke didn't have it to come back to.

"Lulu, you know nothing about business, let Mom deal with this." he told her his mind already on spending his share.

"Business, this isn't business, this is dad's life." she harshly tossed out there before starting to walk away.

Lucky grabbed her arm, spun her around then snapped. "If you had bothered to keep your legs crossed and hadn't married Scott Baldwin's son, there would be no need for this to happen. You want someone to blame for dad losing the Haunted Star, look in the mirror. Your selfishness did this."

"You can't blame this on me, I did my best but I was already in love with Logan when mom hatched that stupid plan. Besides, John would have broke it off anyhow, he has a kid with Georgie Jones. He hasn't left her side since finding out." Lulu had seen the two of them together, she knew that John would have never married her, she didn't get what he saw in Georgie beyond the kid, but hey, she really didn't care now that they were no longer engaged.

"You should have poked a hole in that condom before fucking him." said her brother crassly then he looked over at her and said "You are pretty useless, you can't get anything right can you?"

"Said the druggie ex cop." she sneered before walking to where Logan was waiting for her. When her husband hugged her trying to offer her emotional support, she laid her head on his shoulder and cried.

"It's going to be okay." he said softly his eyes on his brother-in-law. Scott had warned him about Spencer Jr and frankly he didn't see anything too important to be worried about. All Lucky was was another addict in a family of them, thankfully Lulu had escaped that gene. "Do you want to go and visit with your father before we head home?"

"Y-yes, he is going to need someone there. Ethan is trying to stop this, but it is too late. Mom has won like always." she said bitterly as she looked around at the crowd gathered to pick the meat of the carcass that was her family's life.

"Lulu, we need to talk." said Claudia as she waved a bank book in front of the blond. Getting her and her husband off to the side, Claudia showed the girl the account records.

"Wait, this is in my wife's name." said Logan as he turned through the pages. "What is this, a payoff from your brother? You can tell him to take his money and stick it where the sun doesn't shine."

"No, this is a different payoff, the one the Quartermaine family paid for your wife to disappear after she aborted Dillon's kid." she replied with a smirk. "Laura took it away, claimed it was for your wife's good. Our people tracked it down and here it is. All of the one Million dollar payoff."

Lulu took the papers then looked over at where her mother was standing talking to her attorney, Ric Lansing. Her eyes returned to Claudia, the uncertainty in them amusing the Italian woman. "Are you sure it is mine, she had me sign something giving her control of the money."

"Yes, because when you got married it became a joint account, she set it up that it became yours with her as a signatory but that changed when you got married. I would however suggest transferring the money to a different account."

Lulu looked down at the papers then over at her mother and asked hopefully, her eyes tearing up at the idea of being able to be her father's hero. "I can access this money, now?"

"Of course, it is your account." said Claudia a bit annoyed at how dumb the girl was.

The blond was excited as she started to babble about being able to buy the Haunted Star and saving it for her dad. Logan took the small book away and said "Lulu, we really need to talk about this. This isn't just your money. It's ours and we can put it to a better use if we use it for our future. Look, I know you love your father, but honestly... that boat is ready to sink into the river and can't be insured."

"Logan, that is MY money and I will spent it however I want." she huffed as she went to reach for the bank book.

"Actually, Lulu. The way your mother set up the account, you need your husband's signature if your mother doesn't sign. So no, you can't just spent it however you want." said Claudia before walking away knowing that Lulu was not going to be happy with her husband. That man clearly had a level head on his shoulders and would see that Lulu was wasting her funds.

Logan drew his wife off, then explained what the papers said while the auction got started. As several other expensive items went up for sale, including a private jet, some rare classic paintings then some vacant lots, Logan made it clear they weren't going to waste all that money on her father's dream.

Logan called his father, then thought about it, did he really trust Scott not to help Laura? Telling the man it wasn't important, he called an old military buddy who had a friend with computer experience.

"Can you transfer it over to another account, just to be on the safe side."

Minutes later, he got a text and showed it to his now pouting but resigned wife just as the Haunted Star was offered on the auction floor. A spirited five minutes later, the boat had sold for fifty thousand dollars, well below the estimate and Laura was very unhappy to be told that since she hadn't put a minimum on it she had to take the offer. She just let it go, well aware that her other items value would more than compensate for Luke's old rusty boat.

About an hour later, the auctioneer announced that the next item had been pulled from the bidding by the city of Port Charles as the building had been declared blighted and was being sold by order of eminent domain to a local business consortium who were planning on improving the neighborhood.

Laura looked up from the sales brochure confused, she had thought her building was next. When they announced that the building had been sold for about a hundred thousand dollars, she winced for the poor owner until she got heard the auctioneer announce what building it was.

"Wait, WAIT! You can't do that." she shrieked furious to see Ric Lansing being handed paperwork and the attorney's skin turn gray as he looked at her and said "They are telling the truth. The city condemned the building at a special meeting this afternoon. This was in the works since the meeting in December."

"NO! THEY CAN'T DO THAT." she shouted then glared at the various business men in the room. Claudia stayed off to the side, then watched and waited as local restauranteur Sonny Corinthos arrived with his entourage.

Two sales later they announced an auction for 50% ownership of a local successful business, then came the announcement that the long time owners were selling their half of the diner. That it would be the last item up for sale before they took a five minute break.

A buzz hit the room and Laura smirked as she got that there was quite a bit of interest in it. That alone would drive up the price and she was well aware that Sonny Corinthos would top any offer made. He had made it clear that no matter what, at the end of the evening he was going to be the owner.

"Do I hear fifty, fifty thousand?" Asked the man and someone she didn't know in the back of the room raised their number.

"I have fifty, do I hear sixty? Getting shown a number he upped the bid. "Sixty is the bid, do I hear seventy?" The first man raised his number.

"Seventy is the bid do I hear eighty?" he pitched.

"A hundred thousand dollars." announce the man in the back of the room. There were gasps as Anthony moved into the fray.

"The bid is a hundred, do I hear one ten." There was a nod, the same for one twenty, then one thirty. Soon it was down to the man in back and the Zachara family as the bidding was up to one seventy five.

"Two hundred thousand dollars." called out Corinthos to the gasps of the crowd.

The Cuban frowned when the auctioneer said "Two hundred is the bid; do I heard two ten."

The man was trying to quickly bring the gavel down when they heard someone call out three hundred. The auctioneer tried to say he had closed the bidding so that he could get the kickback Corinthos had promised but thanks to the cameras, he knew he had to continue on. "Okay, I have three hundred; do I hear three ten?"

Sonny was pissed but said "Three ten."

"Three twenty." called out the other man before the bid was even acknowledged.

Sonny snarled then snapped "Three fifty and that is my final offer."

"Thankfully this is an auction and that doesn't meant anything. Three seventy five." drawled the other man. The auctioneer was sweating as he looked at Sonny then reluctantly said "Going, going gone, sold to #758."

Sonny's face was flushed as he stormed out of the auction house and back to his own place never seeing the auctioneer frantically trying to reach him.

Calling his men he snapped. "I want you to look at that old Cannery, see what needs to be done to bring it up to code. I lost the auction. I told Laura, I told her I wanted that building and she was greedy, well now she pays."

At the auction house, those left were the the few that had to pay and those waiting for the final lots, government foreclosures so the room was emptying out quickly. The break over, the various participants returned to the auction floor minus those waiting for the end of the drama about to unfold.

Laura was thrilled, she would have over a half a million dollars by the time she was finished this evening. Heading to the payout stations, she was a bit shocked to see her sister-in-law there. "B-bobbie, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean, didn't you hear the auctioneer selling my half of Kelly's?" she asked with a cold smile as they turned around in time to hear the auctioneer swallow loud enough for them to hear through the mike before weakly announcing. "Sold for five thousand dollars, the second half belonging to the Spencer family of the business known as Kelly's Diner."

Laura's ears started to buzz as Ric quickly pulled out his phone from where he was standing in the doorway and called his half brother and client. "We were tricked, they set us up. Both parts of the diner were up for sale. Zachara bought the Jones half... and Jax bought the Spencer half."

Pulling out his blue tooth as his brothers screams of anger came clearly through, Ric looked around then saw John Zachara entering the room with the brunette he knew was Georgie Jones.

Meanwhile Laura was ready to pass out while looking around trying to figure out what was going on. "Mrs. Spencer, when you are ready we can have your check cut for you."

"My check?" she asked her mind now numb then blood rushed in and she turned and said "I have changed my mind, I don't want to sell anymore."

Already making plans to call Corinthos and take his hundred thousand dollar offer, she stiffened as what the man said sunk in. "No, that can't be right. You can't be able to do that. No, they are stealing my share of the business. No, I mean you sold the other half for three hundred times that amount."

"Mrs. Spencer, we tried to get you to put on a minimum, you refused." said the patient man as he escorted her over to the chairs. "Have a seat while I cut you a check. Now, here we are. Your items took in bids of 155,000 dollars. Minus our cut, well... lets see, we agreed upon twenty percent which as a favor to your poor husband the ex mayor is well below our usual cut, okay, here it is. We will be keeping thirty one thousand, so all I need to do is sign the check."

Handing it to the middle aged blond he said "A hundred and twenty one thousand dollars, that should help to offset the debts he created. Thank you for your business."

Her hands shaking with rage, Laura was going to tear up the check but her son had rushed over and taken it out of her hands talking about what he could do with his share. "Not bad, not bad at all. I will be able to get a nice car for forty thousand dollars, thanks Mom."

"Lucky.." Turning, Lucky saw Jasper Jack nodding at his mother then take the check out of his hands. "Thank you, now as the owners of the lien on the house, I am going to agree that since you made your first balloon payment, the bank give you another sixty days to come up with the next one."

"You can't take that money." snapped the former police officer, "That is mine too."

"Lucky your mother agreed that any money received this evening be first placed against her debt then any of the remaining funds were to go to her. This, this is about one third what she needs." he said with a faked smile on his face.

Laura came to as she saw the Australian turn to a man in a suit behind him and announce for him to take care of issuing Mrs. Spencer a receipt. "Jax, surely we can work out a deal. After all you know my family is good for it. Right now, I need that money to support my poor husband, Luke needs serious help."

Lucky was looking around, the auctioneer had fled, Ric was standing there his eyes bugging out as he read whatever the hell he was reading and his sister had left earlier as soon as the Haunted Star was sold.

"Spencer." sneered Morgan as he walked over along with his wife, the woman that Lucky had been so certain would be his. Seeing Jax along with Skye Quartermaine, then the Zacharas who were talking to his Aunt Bobbie who was crying and thanking Georgie for something, he knew he wasn't the smartest person in the room but he definitely got the feeling that something was going on.

"Wh-what is going on, Jason?" he asked hoping for an answer from the businessman.

"Oh, a little righting of a few wrongs." he said while Maxie Jones stood beside Skye and gave him a huge grin. Wondering if that meant she was still interested in him, he was making plans to try and hit that ass later when he saw the Quartermaines stopping to talk to Georgie Jones.

"What wrongs? What are you talking about?" he asked frowning a bit more.

"Oh, the ones committed by your family in it's arrogance since you made the mistake of returning to Port Charles from Alaska." said Lorenzo Alcazar, his arms around his very happy wife's waist. "Luke by the way was declared sane by Kevin Collins, Tom Hardy and a Rae Cummings. He left the state about two hours ago with some money that Carly and I gave him."

Laura turned to Bobbie's daughter and snapped "You had no right."

"Actually Laura, I convinced a judge to have them examine MY brother." stated Bobbie who then added. "You, you tried to stick me with Corinthos after all I have done for you, you were going to try and sell your brother's shares of the diner to that sleazeball Sonny Corinthos? I took your daughter in, I tried to give your son support when he learned that he had an older brother, one you tossed away along with his father who was your husband's bitter enemy."

"I-I needed the money. I am going to lose my house, my shares in Deception. I had to do something and you wouldn't help me." she snarled. "You were too busy kissing up to your husband's bratty bitchy nieces. What, do you really think that Georgie or Maxie give a damn about you, c'mon Bobbie. They are losers. They are nothing and yet time and time again, I have had to listen to you go on and on about them. Yet, nothing, you have never ever supported Lucky, nor Lulu like that."

"What on earth are you talking about?" asked the confused red head. Soon hearing about decades old hurts, old insults, Bobbie looked at the blond as if seeing her for the first time. "My god, Laura. You hate those girls for that? They weren't even born when all of that happened."

"No, that isn't why I hate them." she snapped. Looking at the two young women, she turned to Bobbie and said "You, you have never treated me with warmth, you have always acted like you are better than me. After what you did, after what you were."

Bobbie flushed a bit then said "What I did, your husband manipulated me into. I overcame my mistakes, grew, worked hard to become who I am today. You, you were the daughter of a pair of doctors and still live your life supported by the money they left you. You have done nothing with your life."

"Nothing? I am a respected member of this community. People know who I am and greet me with respect." she sneered.

"No they don't." said a voice in the back. The very respectable older woman moved forward and then looking around said "I heard what happened at the meeting today and had a good idea what was going to happen tonight. Its why I came down."

Then looking at the blond who was shaking in rage, Mrs. Barrington said "At one time, you had respect for what your husband did to help save this town, but as time has gone on, your entire family has shown themselves for who they really are."

"Laura, no one respects you, they are polite in honor of who your family used to be and who your mother is. Everyone knows you abandoned your eldest child for this supposedly great love with Luke. The man who has slept with half your friends and all of your enemies."

Continuing she said sadly "Your continued controlling behavior regarding your children is why one is a convicted drug abuser and the reason your poor daughter is the screw up she is. I had a talk with Scott's wife today. She is going to take Lulu under her wing. Hopefully with some time and distance away from you, Lulu will become a better person. Its time to end this, Laura. Take your money and move to Arizona where your mother is living."

"I am not leaving my house, this is where I grew up, this is my hometown." she said her voice breaking slightly.

Amanda Barrington, moved over to the blond and said "Laura, that house is just a material possession. And my dear, you need help. The Jones girls aren't the enemy. They aren't the girls who laughed at you in school for your father cheating on your mother, they aren't the ones who treated you badly."

"But they were horrible, absolutely horrible to poor Lulu." she said her mind in the past. "They stole her crowns, her glory. Look at them, just look at them. Maxie is a short air-headed piece of fluff, and Georgie, oh please, she has no looks to speak of."

John was about to say something when Elizabeth Morgan moved forward. "Laura, that piece of fluff runs a very successful business, as for Georgie... most people in this town would rate her prettier than Lulu. You are blind when it comes to your children. You always have been. Now, why don't you let me call Nik, he can take you home."

"No, no. I am fine. And you, you are wrong. I know you are." she said looking around at the distaste and the pity on the faces of those around her. "How can you say they didn't steal Lulu's thunder, her time in the sun, I mean look at Georgie standing there with her arm around John. He belongs with Lulu, they will make a much better pair. She steals everything my poor Lulu wants away."

"Laura, I love Georgie, I loved her before I even came to Port Charles. I know that Lulu told you what happened, and that you keep insisting on this fairy tale is proof that they are right. You need help and lots of it." John felt bad, for Georgie, without knowing about the past, by making an offer for the Spencer girl he had stirred up a hornet's nest.

"Ms. Spencer, I think you are a bit confused. Lulu doesn't want John, she is happy with her husband. I think you want John, or at least the idea of John. A rich husband who is happy to be settled down with a wife and children. All the things that Luke didn't want and that you did. Now, why don't you come with me." said Lainey Winters from the edge of the circle surrounding the blond.

Laura started to fight, then she looked at the check in Jax's hand, thought about how she would still owe her attorney and how if she was locked up, he couldn't take her house away from her.

Meekly following the woman, she was soon given a sedative and locked into a padded room while outside Bobbie Spencer Jones was listening to Tom Hardy speaking to Dr. Winters.

"Tom, she is nuts. I stood there listening to her hatred of the Jones girls, her absolute loathing and to hear this goes back to high school. I mean, wow, she is going to be in the long term facility. No doubt about it."

On the Haunted Star, Lucky sat there in shock. His father was packing up a bag and talking to Ethan about what they needed and didn't need. "I thought Carly's husband said you left?"

"Cowboy, we are on our way." he said then getting the last of what he had in his safe, told his son to take good care of his mother and then turned to Ethan and asked "Are you ready to go on an adventure."

"Wait, why can't I come with you?" asked Lucky whining.

"Because son, while I love you, in truth.. you wouldn't last long on the road." said Luke while hitting Ethan on the back as they walked away. Lucky sat there in the middle of the gambling room, looking around at empty tables then went behind the bar and poured himself a drink.

Nik sighed then told his Aunt Bobbie he was sorry for the heartache his mother had caused. "She has been acting a bit off for the last few months, since she came back from Paris, the day before the city council meeting. I think that whatever happened on that trip added to her rape being dredged up was too much for her."

Hanging up the phone, Nik went to investigate the noise he heard. Finding nothing then calling Greece to check on his grandmother he hung up and muttered to himself. "The boogie man is locked in a cell at the family compound, why am I letting this get to me?"

John and the rest of his family were gathered at the bar of the Metrocourt hotel. Carly was pouring a round of drinks and thanking them for saving her mother's business. "To saving Kelly's."

"To Kelly's." said the rest while Georgie was telling her cousin Robin what Antonio had said.

"Have you thought about it, another baby I mean?" she asked. "It would be safer this time, Laura is going to be spending a very long time in a padded cell and I know that your dad is looking into criminal charges against her for when she eventually gets out."

"I have to admit, we talked about it, but right now. I have a job to get used to, a family to blend and future in laws that I have to reign in if I don't want Antonio to end up a spoiled brat."

"Plus... Robin... John hadn't talked about a future, only moving in together." she said softly. "I mean, what if that is all he wants?"

"Talk to him, find out and if it isn't on his mind talk to him until it is." said the other woman with a smirk. "Georgie, trust me, it is on his mind. You only have to watch him watching you to see that."

Her eyes meeting his from across the room, she smiled as he lifted his drink in salute and blushed when his eyes trailed down her body. He had almost had a heart attack when he saw the summer dress earlier that day.

"Georgie? Are you listening to me?" asked the doctor who then laughed when she saw that no, her cousin wasn't as she rudely stood up and walked over to the man she loved. When he leaned down to whisper in her ear then they disappeared down a hallway, Robin just went to find Patrick.

Anthony made a call then said "Corinthos can't be legal. Have your contact at the FBI take a look at the man. I would prefer he not be allowed to retaliate."

"Will do, you should know, his attorney got a call a few minutes ago. Trevor, his father was killed in Barton's Corners, about fifteen minutes away. Gun shot to the back of the head." reported Diane Miller.

"So he finally pissed of Helena Cassadine did he?" asked the wily old Italian before thinking on it. "Have our people run a check on the connection between the Spencers and the Cassadines, specifically I want everything you have on Laura Spencer's time married to Helena's son Stavros."

The older woman snuck into the room while the sedated patient was asleep and stood over her. "I told you I would make you pay for disrespecting my son. I didn't have to lift a finger. You and your arrogance did it all yourself. Well, enjoy your time locked up in your own mind."

Sticking her with a needle, Helena gave a chilling laugh as she leaned down again and added "I took everything away. Your daughter is now with Scott, the first man you abandoned, your son, the one you came back to have, well he is even as we speak drinking tainted bourbon on that boat. As for Nik, I have found him the perfect woman and he will soon be happy. You, you my dear, well you will slowly fade away, unremembered by anyone else."

"Oh, and Luke, the man you chose, well right now, he is on a private Jet fleeing town, you aren't even a blip on his radar. By this time tomorrow, he will be half a world away and I doubt he is going to return or care about the woman who had him locked up in an insane asylum to try and keep her social standing."

Helena walked out the door and carefully made her way to the outside where her limo was waiting. Inside was Ric Lansing who gave her a cold grin and said "My brother has by now learned the truth. What now?"

"Oh, you have fulfilled your duties well, Mr. Lansing. However, I can't have any loose ends." Shooting the man in the head, she ordered her driver to dispose of the body after getting her to the airport.

On the plane, her faithful servant said "My queen, I retrieved the missing heirloom from the Spencer woman's home. Why did I grab the box as well?"

"She deserves nothing, absolutely nothing from my family, not even our refuse." she said then just as the door started to close, tossed out the box. The plane took off, Nik called Lady Arlene and across town the medics were looking around for the anonymous caller who had been so concerned about the drunk on the boat.

"Sorry sir, there was no one here. Do you have any idea who the next of kin is?" asked the man. Mac looked at Lucky sprawled out, his lips blue and gave a sigh as he said he would personally take care of notification.

The sun was rising on a new day, Georgie woke up to the sound of birds outside of her window and looking at the man sleeping next to her laid on her side and ran her fingers down his cheek.

"You know, we were interrupted at a very interesting point last week." said the man who turned onto his back. "Want to play?"

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

Just because there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it doesn't mean you are rich. Something that gold is fools gold and the leprechaun wants you to work a little harder to find the real thing. ~~ Joe

Chapter Ten

Early the next Morning.

As their heartbeats slowed down, John could hear Antonio rushing down the hallway towards the door. Hurrying to pull on his jeans, John intercepted his son and offered to make him breakfast before he could ask for his Mommy.

Making waffles, then pouring on the syrup, John sat down across from his son and listened to him telling him all about the plan to visit his toy car at his grandfather's. There was a moment of silence as Antonio frowned then asked sounding a bit worried. "Daddy, do you know where my Grandfather lives?"

Messing up his curls, John said "Of course I know where he lives. Now, how about after you finish breakfast I get you dressed, then we can wake up Mommy and head out so you can drive your car."

Nodding, Antonio said "Wait, we have to get Jakie too."

"Don't worry, Jake's Mom and Dad are going to drive him out to my dad's house." he assured the little boy who took another bite just as the phone rang. Picking up the house phone, he said "Georgie Jones house."

"John, dad is rather eager to find out when you are coming to the house." announced his sister. "Have you seen the car he bought me."

"I heard about it. Haven't actually seen it." he offered. "We will be out around eleven o'clock. We have a bit to talk to Antonio about."

"I heard that you were moving in, I am a bit surprised you were moving to that small of a house." Claudia said a bit questionably. She knew her brother was thinking about their future and a three bedroom house really didn't seem big enough for that.

"We are going to look for something a bit bigger, but right now, it is only the three of us." he explained.

"I thought her brother lived with her?" she asked.

"No, Matt stays over when she needs him to, but no, he has his own place. Maxie does the same."

"Okay, dad is bellowing at the housekeeper and the cook to make sure things are perfect, I had better go rescue them. He has had them scrubbing and dusting, hell he had the gardeners removing every bud with a hint of brown." she said then hung up laughing as she heard her father asking the cook if she had cleaned the ovens already.

Entering the kitchen, she said "Dad, I assure you, Georgie and Antonio aren't going to open the oven door, then say they aren't staying because it isn't nice and shiny."

Turning to glare at his daughter who was distinctly laughing at him. "Go drive your present. And when you get back, you really need to organize your closet. Why does it look like a hurricane went through it,"

"Why were you in my closet?" she asked as she went over and kissed her father's cheek. "Never mind, I really don't want to know what you bought, I will let it be a surprise. For now, please, relax. Just enjoy that your grandson is coming over."

"I will, I will." he grumbled. "So, what do you think, is Johnny going to propose anytime soon?"

"Dad... give it a rest. John wants to romance Georgie. He is planning on taking her out on a date, tonight. I think he is just waiting to verify that her father can babysit."

"Why can't I babysit." he asked darkly. "Why didn't your brother ask me?"

Sighing, Claudia said "You are overreacting. Now, take a deep breath and think things through. Mac Scorpio lives about ten minutes away from Georgie's house, we live almost twenty-five minutes away. Plus, you are spending the day with Antonio, his other grandfather should get equal time."

Grabbing her keys on her way out the door, Claudia could hear her father asking the gardeners about the puppies he had heard about in the barn. Debating warning John and Georgie, she just slid behind the wheel of her car, revved the V8 engine and was soon driving off, enjoying the long stretch of road.

In town, Georgie was showering when John knocked on the glass door and said "Your father is on the phone. Laura's sister in law is asking to speak to us all tomorrow."

"I love Aunt Bobbie, I just want to forget it all about Laura and Lulu Spencer. Hopefully Laura will leave town when they let her out after her seventy two hour hold. Like Mrs. Barrington said there really is nothing left for her here."

Looking down at the water rivets that he could see traveling down between her breasts, John pulled her a bit further out, then gave her a quick kiss then said "Hurry up, or I will forget about our son waiting downstairs and join you." he said with a slight leer. Backing out the door, his eyes still on Georgie, John gave a lustful sigh then went to join his son. Hearing a distant voice, he winced as he recalled that Georgie's dad was waiting for an answer.

When the small family arrived at the Crimson Point estate, John saw that the Morgans were pulling in right behind them. Antonio and Jake were greeting each other before they were even out of their respective car seats.

"Jake, you have got to see my car." beamed Antonio as he was let loose. The two boys were talking back and forth while Georgie was greeting Elizabeth as they talked about the day before and what had happened.

John, Jason and Anthony were talking when the little boys joined them. "May I show Jake my car, Grandfather?"

The older man was beaming at the name, then saying goodbye to his son and friend, before leading the two boys off telling them about the tennis court and how he had set it up for them to drive the cars on it.

"Wait, did you dad say cars?" asked Georgie as she joined them.

"Of course he said cars. Dad would make sure that when Antonio's friends came over they would have their own car to drive. Georgie, I see you made sure John didn't get lost, good, I thought he had forgotten his way to dad's house" said Claudia as she came from the garage glaring at her brother. "Elizabeth, how are you?"

"Fine, better than fine." she said with a large smile as Jason enfolded her hand in his. "Georgie, are you sure you don't mind bringing Jake home later?"

"No, no problem." she said then told the other couple about Bobbie's request. "She said she it won't be totally about Laura Spencer."

Sighing, Elizabeth said "You do recall that Laura was my Uncle Rick's stepdaughter? I called his wife, Ginny, she told me a few things. I don't find what she said to be an excuse, nothing excuses the nonsense she has been pulling for years."

"I know. You know, the part that truly bothers me is how secretive she was about some of it." John said frowning a bit.

"I knew she was always blaming you for Lulu's failures, but I had no idea of the rest of it. I can't help thinking that I should have seen more of it." said Elizabeth.

"Why?" asked Georgie. "I should have opened my mouth, told someone about the rest of the nonsense. Maxie and I just ignored her for years. Dad didn't know part of it until recently. We didn't tell anyone."

Hearing the sound of the cars in the distance, John and Georgie headed to where the boys were while Jason and Elizabeth got into their car and drove off. Claudia just laughed and followed the cobbled path to the tennis court.

The Zachara family with Jake spent the rest of the afternoon playing, eating lunch and just talking to one another. Georgie was not thrilled at all about the puppies with very large feet and was a bit worried that at some point one would be coming to their house.

When they finally pried Jake and Antonio away, she winced thinking about how Elizabeth was going to take her son wanting one as well. Jake was as unhappy as Antonio was to leave. He had liked the cars that were close to his motorcycle, he liked the puppies. He had enjoyed the older man, he was loud like his great grandpa Edward but way more jolly.

While Jake and Antonio were saying goodbye to Anthony, John was sweating a bit as he asked Georgie to have dinner with him that night since Antonio would be with her father. "Sure, you want to get something at Kelly's?"

"No, no that wasn't... I meant like a date." he said. "You know, you and me, as a couple."

"Okay. But I want to change first." she said looking down at her jeans and t-shirt along with sneakers.

AT the Morgan residence, Jake and Antonio rushed off to play for a few minutes with Cam while the two couples talked to each other. Georgie saw Elizabeth turn a bit green then sip at some soda water.

When she saw Jason reach out as if to comfort her, she gave a smile then reminded Johnny that Mac was expecting them. When they were saying goodbye, Georgie leaned in and whispered congratulations to Elizabeth then asked when.

"Six months." she told the younger woman. "We are keeping it quiet."

"I won't tell anyone, well unless... may I tell John?" she asked only for Elizabeth to nod yes.

Gathering the three year old, they arrived at Mac's house where the little boy who hadn't seen his grandfather or grandmother since leaving on vacation in Italy. Hugging his daughter, Mac said "He looks happy and its clear that John and you are working on things."

With a slight giggle as Antonio explained to his daddy that Alexis didn't like being called grandma and the glare the attorney was giving John, Georgie said. "We are going on a date tonight, are you sure you are okay with keeping him tonight?"

"Georgie, that young man has his own room here." her father said slightly annoyed with the question considering he hadn't seen his grandson in a couple of weeks and he had spent the night several times before.

With a cheeky grin, she said "I just wanted to make sure, I uh, have plans for John that might be ruined otherwise."

"I don't want to know, I prefer thinking that you have never even thought about doing anything like that." he told his daughter then glaring at John went to spend time with his grandson.

Alexis came over to where Georgie was standing watching the interaction between the three most important men in her life. "How are you doing?"

"It's strange, I was so angry for so long about John leaving me. Now, knowing the truth... it just fades away. I just feel sad about the time they lost with one another."

"The way he watches you, he loves you." she said with a smile.

"I know, I love him too. I have always loved him, even when I hated him." she said. "He gave me an absolutely incredible gift, our son."

"What are your plans this evening?"

"I don't know, he just told me he had it all planned." she said then heard John telling their son good night and kissing him.

When Antonio promised to be good for his grandfather, Georgie kissed him and said they would be back for him in the morning. Antonio just grinned at them and ran towards his grandpa as he said. "Night Mommy and Daddy."

Soon changed, Georgie looked down at the summery dress, the high heeled shoes as she went to put on her earrings. "John, your father is insane, he has to be."

"I think you look incredible." he said admiring the sleeveless dress that had material crossing in the back, leaving a nice amount of skin uncovered. The shoes were not really Georgie, more something his sister would wear, but he loved the way she moved in them.

"Let me grab a wrap." she said going to her closet and finding the silky wrap. Arriving at the door, she stopped looking at the car in the drive. "John, whose car is that."

"Mine." he said walking her out to the silver Mercedes SLS AMG. When he lifted the door, Georgie said "Really?"

"Dad." he replied. "On a trip to Germany two months ago."

"I am having images of Antonio being spoiled rotten, John." she warned as she held his hand so she could lower herself into the sports car.

"Nah, that won't happen. We will just reign him in." he said closing the car door and hoping the cold weather held off until they had returned home so he could show her what the car was like with the top down.

Placing his suit jacket on the narrow back seat, he took his phone and placed it on the connections, just in case there was a problem with Antonio while they were driving.

The drive to wherever they were going had Georgie trying to get where they were going out of him. Hiding his smirk, John looked at her and said. "There is no way I will tell you, so stop."

"Oh, I think I can get it out of you." she said admiring the way his shoulders filled out the black fine cotton dress shirt. When they left the city limits, she said "We are heading towards Route 81."

"Yes, we are." he said with a smirk. When he took the road to Syracuse, Georgie thought about it, then sat back. "I promise it will be an enjoyable evening."

"I have no doubt about that." she said then thought about it, reaching out, she squeezed his thigh and added "Too bad, I had plans for this drive. Very nice plans."

His eyes came off the road long enough to take in her pouting lips and said "Behave, the last time I had this planned, we ended up spending the whole night in your apartment."

Her mind went back to Italy and the night they had spent teasing and tormenting each other. It was the weekend before they had gone to Lake Garda. Her heartbeat accelerated, her legs trembled and she felt a deep ache inside of her core.

Turning on the stereo, John hit the button to start the blues CD. The bluesy sound of Etta James filled the car, he saw Georgie's head lay back against the head rest. The quick forty minute trip to the theater was completed in companionable silence. When he pulled up in front of the red brick building, the man he had arranged for was waiting for them.

"Mr. Zachara, welcome." said the tall man who then led them into the building. "We have everything you requested set up."

"John?" she asked the dark haired man what was going on only to be handed a single long stemmed lavender rose.

"I have something special in mind." he said then watched as the man left through the door, then led Georgie up the stairs, being careful of her while she was wearing those rather high heels.

At the door, he stopped and showed her the stage, with a spotlight on the very shiny grand piano. "Last time I intended to play for you, but I have something else in mind tonight."

"Okay." she said astonished as he led her to the front row of red leather chairs.

John sent the text message, then a man walked out wearing a tuxedo. He bowed at them, then sat down at the piano.

"John, where is everyone else?" she whispered.

"No one else is going to be here. I rented the place." he said as the man on the stage began playing. "This is Paul Tobey."

Georgie was in shock but found herself listening to almost every single instrumental song she had had on her iPod when they had dated. John reached out, folded his hand around hers as the lights went down, encircling them in a sense of intimacy as the man played on.

An hour and a half later, John thanked the man then escorted a very relaxed Georgie out of the theater. "Dinner is next door."

"John, it looks closed." she said looking at the Italian restaurant.

"It's open, for us." he said leading her to the green door. The man from earlier was inside, then led them through the main dining room and to a side banquet hall. Inside they were soon seated at a round table with linen clothes.

John reached out and poured them each a glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon while a waiter silently brought them over two plates. "Stuffed Mushrooms and Vine Ripened Tomatoes with Fresh Mozzarella."

The two of them talked about Antonio and his friendship with Jake. The Apple Gorgonzola Salad was followed by Italian wedding soup as they discussed about his family, her family and as the entree arrived they found themselves talking about Italy

"What did you order for me?" she asked.

"Tuscan Spiced Ahi Tuna, I got Chicken Marsala." he said seeing her mouth watering as she looked at both of the dishes. "I knew it."

"Hey, you know how much I like any type of marsala." she warned as she picked up her silverware. Teasing her for a moment, then John offered her a bite and felt his body react to her soft moan of pleasure.

Leaning in he said so that the waiter standing in the doorway didn't hear. "You made that same sound this morning when we..."

"Don't tease me." she said blushing once again trying to get her body under control. Eating, she watched him watch her, as silence grew between them. As the last bite was finished he said "Do you want some dessert."

"I want something but we aren't going to be finding it on the menu." she said reaching out for his hands. John leaned over and kissed her then thanked the waiter and cook before escorting her back to the car.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he once again helped her into the car.

"I only had one glass, then switched to water." he promised. On the drive home, he turned the stereo back on, his right hand still holding hers. On the edge of town, he realized Georgie had fallen asleep.

"John?" she asked when she felt the car slow down to obey the speed limit around the curves.

"Hey, I didn't meant to wake you up." he said.

"Where are we?" she asked stretching as much as she could within the confines of the seat belt.

"Outskirts of town, a few miles away from Vista Point." he said then saw her hitting the button to roll the window down.

"I uh, the wine is making me sleepy." she said.

"I have something better than the window." he said pulling off to the side of the road. Hitting the button for the car to switch to convertible mode, he took his jacket and handed it to her. "This might work a little better than your wrap for the rest of the trip."

Soon finding he was right, she was wide awake as the sound of the roof collapsing into the trunk ended. "Thank you."

Leaning over to kiss John, as their lips slow separated, she winced at the stick between them as she looked up at the sky. "Hey, we have a full moon."

Georgie had her head tilted back and John was admiring the lines of her neck when he looked around the completely deserted look out site and then said "Here, let me put the seat back."

Both seats were released back into a reclining position and Georgie finally got a chance to give him a quick kiss. They sat there for about fifteen minutes listening to the new CD he had put in with another one of her favorites Diana Krall as they watched the moon overhead.

Deciding to take take a chance, John deepened the kiss, happy when Georgie reached over and pull his hand around her neck.

For Georgie, the first touch of his lips on hers she was drawn back into the whirlpool of love and want that had always surrounded them. Without Antonio there, she found herself relaxing, not worrying about their son entering and interrupting the the sensual pull his father had over her.

As her body responded to the kiss, she ran her hands down his neck, enjoying the feeling of strength and control as they moved downward to his shoulders.

John cursed his idea of the Mercedes, wishing he had one of the limos as he felt the coolness of the wind and pulled back a bit from where he had been nibbling his way down Georgie's neck. "We- we have to stop."

Georgie caught her breath then looked up at the sky, suddenly realizing that any one could drive by. "You're right."

As he got them returned to a seated position, he was a bit stunned to notice he hadn't even turned the car off. "You know, you drive me totally out of my mind, just the thought of us makes me forget the most basic skills."

Wanting to say that she enjoyed what few skills he kept at those moments, Georgie watched as he put the car into reverse to return them to the road. When they were about a quarter of a mile away, she saw in the slight darkness, that his body was still as aroused as her own and decided to tease him just a bit.

Seeing his hand on the gear shift, she placed hers on top and said "I can't wait until we get home."

"We almost didn't wait." he said. "Thank god, I am driving a car with a stick or we would be in danger of being under arrest for indecent exposure."

Lightly trailing the hand on his up his arm, she said "Are you sure you aren't cold with me having your jacket."

"No, I will be fine. Besides, your dress is a lot thinner than my dress shirt." he said then caught his breath as her hand traveled down his side, seemingly on its way back to the gearshift.

Georgie saw his body clench just for a second then almost missed the quick disappointment when her hand came back on her side of vehicle. Scooting over a bit, annoyed with the confines of the seat belt, she turned the music down a bit.

Taking a look at the road, she was amused to notice where they were. At least fifteen miles of road laid out in front of them, a straight shot but the long way to her house.

Returning to teasing John, she ran her hand back down his forearm but this time instead of heading back up, she ran her hand down the length of his thigh. Her hand just stayed there, inches from his knee while Georgie grew the courage to take her tormenting to the next level.

Deciding it was now or never, she ran her hand back up his thigh, then back down as she chickened out a bit before returning to his upper thigh. Feeling the tension, she looked at his face, not seeing any reaction, she thought maybe he was not interested.

If only she knew... John body was reacting to her caressed, not sure if it was innocent contact or if she was deliberately teasing him. He finally decided that next time her hand moved up, he would place his own over hers when he felt her traveling north again, this time cupping his rather hard reaction to her teasing.

When John didn't seem to react, she pulled her hand back a bit worried he was not interested only for him to reach out and return her hand to where it had been. The only sounds in the car were Diana singing a breathless ballad as John felt Georgie's hand tighten a bit then start to rub his erection.

Slowing down a bit, not wanting to crash, John could only moan in excitement as he found the first road that would lead to Georgie's house.

Georgie felt a sense of power when she saw John taking the back roads, avoiding what little nighttime traffic there was at one thirty in the morning as he pulled onto her street.

Taking her garage door opener from the side console, John pulled in and had barely turned the car off when Georgie reached down and freed him from his dress pants. "Georgie, wait."

"No." she said needing to swallow when she saw the tip of his cock peeking out of the slit in his dark colored shorts. "Besides, he doesn't want to wait either."

"Georgie..." John couldn't say anything else because she was slipping her hand in, then cupping his now bared erection.

She could see the glistening drop of precum and noticing that John was trapped by his seat belt, leaned down touched his tip with her tongue to lick the the proof that he was eager for her as she was for him.

John tried to keep control, but hips had a mind of their own as they bucked in reaction. Georgie saw the reaction and before he could stop her, she had encircled the head of his cock with her lips.

When he slid out as John regained control of her body, Georgie again flicked her tongue across the head of his tip, this time finding a bit more glistening liquid. Tilting her head to the side, she could see he was fighting against what she was doing but this time she was going to be the one in control.

"John, please, just relax..." Without lifting her head, she started to ask but she didn't have to say anything because he gave over to the pleasure as he hit the button to put his seat back into a reclining position. Georgie rolled her tongue around the tip, then worked her way down as far as she could while she gripped him with her fingers.

After a few more moments of teasing she took him in a little deeper then eased back, then a little deeper still as she began to move back and forth, deeper each time until she could feel his tip against the back of her throat. When she pulled back then licked him like he was a dripping ice cream cone, John moaned, then grew louder as she took him back into her warm wet mouth.

John found himself receiving every single teenage boys wet dream as he watched the woman he had intended to ask to marry him as she brought him to orgasm. "Geor-"

Georgie swallowed, then lifted her head, wiping the corner of her lips as she saw the lustful look in his eyes. Before she could even think, he had released his seat belt, opened the door and rushed around to her side.

Finding herself at the door to the kitchen, she was laughing as he didn't even give her time to get her purse before he led her up the stairs to her room. Feeling his hands on the zipper, she reached back to help him only for her neck to be kissed and then the zipper done back up. "John?" she said uncertainly.

"No, we need to talk." he said groaning. Leading her to the stairs, he frowned then said "Please kick off those shoes."

Obeying his request, she let him lead her down to the living room. Once she was seated, he smiled at her. "I so had other plans for us tonight. I am not doing this right, but please forgive me for the awkwardness."

Georgie let him talk, knowing eventually he would explain. "I love you so much, Georgie. I did when I left Italy. I thought that I had lost you when I didn't return. I love our son. I regret missing the last few years, but I don't intend to miss another day. With either of you."

When he sat down on her coffee table in front of her, she saw it in his eyes, she was not sure how she had missed what he had planned but clearly she had. "John..."

Stopping her from speaking, he said nervously. "I know that this might be thought too quick by some, considering I was engaged to Lulu. If they don't know the truth, they might wonder but I love you, I don't want to wait. Marry me? Now?"

"Yes." she said quickly only for him to suddenly stand and walk away. "Uh, John, what is it?"

"I am going to have to do this again. My proposal, it shouldn't have even mentioned her name." he said as he looked at her clearly upset about something..

Laughing, she stood and went over to hug him. "I love you, I want to marry you and you don't have to change a single thing. Johnny, Lulu can't hurt us. Only we can hurt each other. We do need to speak about a few things, like where we are going to live. Talking to your father about Antonio, my family."

"That is the easy stuff." he said as he suddenly realized she had said yes. "I just have one question. How do you feel about the house next to the Morgans?"

"The contemporary?" she asked. "Its nice, a bit large but nice. No, you didn't?"

"I didn't, yet. Claudia saw it today while she was out driving." he said. "I have seen it several times when visiting Jason."

"I knew it was for sale." she said cautiously. "I would love living near Elizabeth and I gather Jason and you are friendly enough. Are you sure that you don't want to live at Crimson Point?"

"NO!" he said rather forcefully while laughing at the mental image of his father spoiling their children rotten and smacking him upside the head every single time he drooled over his wife. "I love my family, but I want a home, a place to raise our children that is only for us."

"Our children?" she asked with a smile as he encircled her waist and pulled her into his arms. "I gather we are going to have more than just Antonio?"

"You do want more children, right?" he asked looking a bit confused. "I thought you said... when we were in Italy..."

"That I wanted three. Yes." she said. "I should tell you right now, I am demanding at least one of them be a girl and since you are responsible for that... you had better give me at least one."

Smirking he said "I will do my best."

"I am serious." she said with a deadpan expression on her face which failed when he raised an eyebrow. "Fine, well as long as you do your best."

"When can we get married? I was thinking next Saturday." he asked as he held her hand while walking towards the staircase.

"I am fine with it, but you have to be the one to tell your father, my sister and Alexis." she said cheerfully as she turned off the light on her way to be seduced.

TBC


End file.
